the Chimera
by PhantomKnight102
Summary: Shou Tucker's work on chimera's has been stolen...and perfected. A perfect hybrid is created illegally, and Ed & Al are desperate to keep her hidden from the military. But Mustang is a little too curious about Ed's new 'friend' and starts poking around where he shouldn't. Will he figure out her secret? ON TEMP. HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

"I can't believe that Colonel Bastard made us go through all of Tucker's work," Ed complained as he entered the Tucker manor with Al. They walked through the eerily silent house towards his lab, where all his notes on chimeras was located. A few doors and staircases later and they had arrived in the horrid lab where Tucker had illegally transmuted his own daughter and dog into one, all to pass his state examination. It made Ed sick just to think about it, so he put it in the back of his mind as he entered the lab. He stopped in the doorway, staring at the room.

It was completely empty.

All of the crates, full of failed chimeras, were gone. All of the stacks of research, piled throughout the room haphazardly, were gone. "What the hell!" Ed burst out, startling his younger brother, who had yet to see the missing work. Ed stomped into the room, going straight to his desk to search the drawers, though it was all in vain. _Everything_ was gone.

"Somebody must've stolen it," Al said.

"Yeah, but how did they get in here? The security's been air tight since Tucker was arrested, so no one should've been able to enter," Ed replied hotly, very annoyed. In a bad mood, he kicked out at a nearby box that had been stacked upon another, knocking it to the floor in a cloud of dust. After a coughing fit, Ed regretted his action. Now mad at the room, he stomped out, leaving Al to scramble to catch up to him. Ed practically stomped all the way back to Central to let Mustang know what had happened.

Everyone in the office quickly realized Ed wasn't in a good mood by the way he busted the door open, stomping all the way to Mustang's office and entering without so much as a knock, startling a 'working' Mustang. His eyes narrowed when he saw Ed back in his office so soon after dismissing him. "What, you finish going through it all already? Or did you get bored?" Mustang teased, his head resting on his fist, which was propped up on his desk. Ed scowled in response as he slouched down onto his couch.

"No," Ed replied grumpily. Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"No," he repeated. "Then what are you doing here? I want that research organized and catalogued," he said, growing angry that the kid had skipped out on his duties.

"We can't," Ed said exasperated. Mustang was still giving him a confused look, so he elaborated. "The research, it's all gone. Not a single bit is left to catalogue." Mustang's face now expressed the shock he felt when he heard what Ed had said.

"How is it all gone? We've had security on the place since he left," Mustang asked, the disbelief clear in his voice. Ed scowled again.

"We don't know. All I know is the research isn't there. So now what are we going to do?" Ed asked, curious as to what they were going to do now. Since he couldn't catalogue Tucker's research, he was now free to research other, more important things, like the Philosopher's stone. Mustang was deep in thought, so it took him a bit to answer Ed's question.

"Nothing right now. I'll ask the investigation team to see if they can figure out who took it, so until they do all we can do is wait," Mustang said, and Ed took that as an invitation to do whatever he wanted. He jumped off the couch without so much as a goodbye and left, surprising Mustang. "Just stay in Central and don't get into any trouble!" the Colonel shouted to the brothers' receding figures.

* * *

**So this is basically just setting up the rest of the story, which will continue on in the next chapter. I'm thinking about doing longer chapters with longer updates, but I'm not totally sure yet. Let me know what you think of it so far in a review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's chapter 2. As promised, it's quite long.**

* * *

~ 2 months later ~

"We've finally found a lead on Tucker's missing research," Maes Hughes told Mustang one evening, a couple of months later. He dropped a folder on his desk, which Mustang picked up and began leafing through.

"You think Dominik Wilhelm, a State Alchemist, stole Tucker's research?" Mustang asked incredulously. Hughes nodded.

"A few months ago he disappeared suddenly, abandoning his house for several weeks. It was reported, but no action was taken against it. But just recently, his neighbors had reported activity from his house, and what they reported is definitely unusual," Hughes explained, his voice getting happier the more he talked, as if the case intrigued him. Mustang gestured for him to continue.

"They say he stayed up all night, holed up in his room, probably working on something they assumed. And then one afternoon, he left his house for the first time in a while looking extremely happy with himself. He disappeared again for the rest of the week, and then returned again, that same happy expression on his face. After that he regularly left the house, always with an extra bag, yet returned not long after empty-handed," he said, a little too happily. Mustang still wasn't seeing how this connected him with Tucker's research, and it showed on his face.

"Can you get to the point already?" he asked, the exasperation in his voice. Maes nodded and eagerly continued.

"His examination was recent, yet when they arrived he wasn't there, so they decided to wait, right. And that was when they found his research, which they decided to take a look at. It just so happens that one of the inspectors recognized it as Tucker's research and called it in. My team and I went over to check it out, and it turns out they were right. When Wilhelm returned we arrested him and brought him here to Central so we could hold an interrogation. And here's where it gets weird. The whole time he didn't really say much about his research, only that 'he'd perfected it' or something along those lines, but he wouldn't specify what was so perfect," Hughes said.

"I'll get someone to go to his house and look at the research to see if they can't figure it out," Mustang said, just what Hughes was hoping for. And Mustang knew exactly who he was going to send.

"Good, because this weekend Gracia and I are going on a date!" he said happily, pulling out a photo of his wife to show an annoyed Mustang.

"That's good, Hughes," Mustang said, now looking at the file with more interest. When Hughes realized Mustang wasn't looking at the picture, he pocketed it with a sigh before heading out with a final wave, leaving Mustang to mull over the new information.

~ next day ~

Ed and Al had left the train station and were walking to the house formerly owned by State Alchemist Dominik Wilhelm. Ed was annoyed with the Colonel again because he'd sent them on the mission on such short notice, which was why he had been glaring out the window the entire train ride. Al just took it in silence, instead watching the rest of the passengers.

When they arrived at Wilhelm's house, they both halted to look at the large, oppressing building. To them it looked like it hadn't been used in years, but in reality it had only been a week or so. Yet the lawn was overgrown and there was ivy creeping up the walls, and the shutters were in disarray, making it look like some cliché horror house. Ed suppressed a shudder as he walked up the pathway to the door, unlocking it with a key he'd gotten from Mustang. The door creaked open and the boys stepped inside.

"Where should we start, brother?" Al said, wandering into the kitchen. He poked around in there, opening cabinets and the like to see if he'd find anything interesting. There was nothing except a ton of cat food. Ed was in the library, looking at all the books on the shelves with curiosity.

"I dunno. His neighbors said he spent a lot of time in his room, so I guess we should start there and spread out," Ed suggested, leaving the library to walk up the staircase. It creaked ominously under Al's weight, but held steady. They walked down the hall, peering in each room until they found the right one. It was easy to spot with all the paper scattered about the room.

"Where should we start, brother?" Al repeated, looking at the many papers lying in heaps around the room.

"You start on that side, and I'll start over here. Just start organizing the papers into piles; we can go through them more thoroughly later," Ed ordered, moving to the desk to start cleaning up. As he was cleaning, he couldn't help but glance at some of the notes, not surprised to recognize it as Tucker's. It was all of his work on chimeras, and how to properly combine them. He was repulsed by the research and didn't look too thoroughly at it. He'd rather not know how to make a chimera.

While Ed was trying hard not to look too closely at the research, he couldn't help but glance at it. And when he found a particularly interesting page, he did a double-take. It was one of Tucker's transmutation circles, but several parts of it had been crossed out and replaced. In the top corner, Wilhelm had written 'Perfection,' and suddenly Ed recalled a particular detail Mustang had mentioned in his briefing. Wilhelm had been muttering about 'perfecting it,' and Ed got the feeling he'd just found out what. Curious, Ed examined the circle further. Several parts had been changed, and while it was definitely different, Ed wasn't sure if the end results would've been the same since he knew next to nothing on making chimeras.

With a new motivation, Ed went through the papers he had stacked and began sorting them, taking out all of Wilhelm's own work or the pieces of Tucker's he'd made notes on. He began reading through it all, trying to figure out what he'd 'perfected.' As far as he could tell, it was the process of combining the two animals. Ed was in the process of trying to find which two animals Wilhelm had figured worked best when Al called out to him.

"Brother, take a look at this," he said, waving Ed over. Al was surrounded by the stacks he'd organized, and in his hand was a file. "I found this among the research. It's different," he noted, handing the folder to Ed. Ed sat down next to him and opened the folder to examine the contents. There were several pages with equations and formulas written on them, many scratched out or erased. He even recognized a few that had been on the other pages he'd been looking at earlier. He flipped through a few more pages, and he stilled when he recognized several of them. Wordlessly, Ed held up one of them for his brother to see.

"Recognize this," he said, handing it to Al, who took it to get a better look.

"It looks like…oh no. You don't think –" Al said, but the subtle nod of Ed's head answered his unasked question.

"Yeah, it's got to be," he said, his voice laced with anger. "Dominik Wilhelm also performed human transmutation, and from the looks of his research, it seems he got it right," Ed concluded. Al looked shocked to hear this.

"B-but how? Human transmutation is impossible!" Al cried, finding it hard to believe. Ed couldn't believe it either, yet the formulas all added up correctly. "How could he have done it, and without losing anything either," Al asked.

"I don't think he was trying to trade for anything," Ed said, flipping through the rest of the folder. When he got to the very last item his blood ran cold, and suddenly it clicked in his head. "He was using it to combine two creatures into the perfect hybrid. That's why he kept saying he'd perfected it!" Suddenly Ed jumped up and rushed out of the room, leaving Al to scurry to catch up. Ed took the stairs two at a time, and as soon as he hit the floor he sprinted out of the house, only stopping once he got out of the gate to look around. Al, confused, put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from darting off again.

"Brother, what is it?" he asked. He didn't like not knowing what Ed was thinking, and right now his brother's actions worried him a bit.

"We need to hurry, Al, or this girl could die," he said, holding up the picture that was clutched in his hand. It had been the final item in the folder.

The girl that Wilhelm planned on using in his transmutation.

As Al looked at the picture, he realized she was fairly close in age to them. The picture had been taken from the side, as if Wilhelm had been hiding when he'd taken it. She was sitting under a tree with her knees pulled close to her chest, propping up the book she was reading. She had wavy, dark brown hair that fell past her shoulders, and warm brown eyes that reminded him of chocolate. She looked so peaceful in the picture, and it tore at Al's heart to think of what she might've gone through because of Wilhelm. He handed the picture back to Ed, who took one last look at it before sticking it in his pocket.

"Where do you think she could be?" Al asked, looking up and down the street as if a sign would appear and point them in the right direction. Ed's face scrunched up as he thought about it.

"I think Wilhelm would want it to be nearby, that way it would be easy to get to. And it would have to be a semi-large building I'm assuming, from his research. And of course it would have to be abandoned," Ed said. Suddenly Ed brightened, the only warning Al had before he took off down the sidewalk, jogging because of the sense of urgency he was feeling all of a sudden.

"Where are we going?" Al asked. He assumed it was to where Ed thought Wilhelm's lab would be, but a confirmation would still be nice.

"I saw…this building…one the way here. I think…it might be…this one," Ed said between breaths, trying to talk while supplying oxygen to his lungs. After several blocks, he stopped in front of an old, shut down bookstore wedged between a flower shop and clothing store. "Wilhelm owned a lot of used books, so I think he'd be quite familiar with this building. And when it closed, he figured it would be as good a lab as any with some remodeling," he said, walking up to the door. He tried the handle, but of course it was locked. Al tapped on his shoulder and Ed wordlessly moved away, covering his ears in preparation. Swiftly, Al kicked the center of the door with enough force to knock it off its hinges.

After the dust cleared, they entered the store, walking straight to the back. They checked the two rooms, and finding them empty the boys grew frustrated, Ed stomping back to the main room. He was leaning on the counter, and Al could tell his mind was racing, trying to figure out where the girl was. Suddenly he lashed out, knocking a nearby stack of books to the ground. "Argh, we need to find her soon! But where is she!" he shouted, frustrated. Al sighed as he bent down to pick up the books, but he paused when he noticed something in the floorboards. Instead of picking up the books he brushed them aside to reveal a small transmutation circle. On impulse, he placed his hand on the edges and activated it, the familiar blue energy of a transmutation appearing. Ed noticed the light and looked down to watch his brother, and to their surprise a section of the floorboard deconstructed, reconstructing itself into a wooden set of stairs leading down into a hidden basement. Ed almost let out a whoop of joy but restrained himself.

Instead, he began walking down them, his hands inches apart from touching, just in case he needed to perform alchemy. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, though, his hands dropped to his side, showing just how surprised he was. It was a small room, no larger than the one they were just in. On the far wall there was a desk with several papers on it, though not nearly as many as in his room. On the walls there were several transmutation circles, though they had all been scratched out or marred in some fashion. The only one that remained perfect was the one of the floor, an exact replica of the one Ed had found on the paper in Wilhelm's room marked 'Perfection.'

Ed, who was too busy staring at the circle, failed to notice the large crate in the corner, which was the first thing Al had spotted. There was a large black cloth covering it, so he walked over to remove it. Ed finally noticed it too, and being his curious self he followed Al. Reaching out, Al grasped a corner of the cloth, and with a large tug he yanked it completely off, revealing the contents of the cage. The girl, or they assumed it was the same girl because now she looked slightly different, was lying in the cage, apparently sleeping. Her chest was steadily rising and falling, and her head was resting on her arms, her eyes closed as she slept. There was an empty food and water bowl placed inside the cage, which was probably the only thing that had kept her alive this long since Wilhelm hadn't been there to feed her anymore.

"What should we do now?" Al whispered to his brother, trying to be quiet so she would continue to sleep, but it didn't work. Her eyes snapped open and immediately focused on Ed and Al. They widened a fraction and she rushed backwards, pushing herself into the corner of the cage to get as far away from them as possible. "Oops," Al said as they watched her. She was doing the exact same thing; her eyes were trained on them, unblinking as she watched their every move.

"I'm going to try and open the cage," Ed said, making a move for the lock. As soon as his hand touched it she bared her teeth and hissed at him, causing Ed to yank his hand back, as if he was shocked. Surprised, Ed reached for the lock again, only to have her hiss at him. Frustrated, he sat down in front of the door. "What? Don't you want to get out of there?" he said to her, though he wasn't sure if she understood him. Her head cocked to the side and her ears twitched, but she didn't hiss again. It was then Ed was able to get a good look at her.

It was the same girl, but just barely. Her wavy and dark brown hair was now a silvery gray and completely straight, cut short to go just past her shoulders. While her brown eyes were the same, her pupils had become more slit-like and less round. The most different part about her, though, were the large black cat ears that had sprouted from the side of her head and the long black cat tail coming from her rear. Ed was surprised he hadn't noticed them before; they were always moving or twitching, never staying still. She really was the perfect hybrid.

While Ed had been sitting there and looking at her, she had slowly begun to loosen up, gradually moving away from the corner, though still nowhere near Ed. Al, who noticed this, took the chance to talk to her since she'd recognized Ed talking earlier. "Hello. I'm Alphonse, and this is my brother Edward. What's your name?" They both stilled as they watched her, waiting for her to answer. Her cat ears twitched as she regarded them carefully.

"S-sofie," she replied softly. Ed and Al shared a look, and suddenly Ed broke out in a grin.

"Hi Sofie," he replied, raising his hand in a wave. The sudden movement startled her and she retreated back to the corner. Ed lowered his hand and looked sheepish. "Sorry about that, but we're not going to hurt you. We want to help you," he said to her, trying to get her to understand. She looked at him carefully while she slowly inched closer again.

"Help," she repeated, and Ed responded happily at their progress with her. This time moving slowly, he reached towards the lock on the cage. Her ears flattened, but she didn't move from her spot. It took Ed practically no time at all to pick the lock, without alchemy, and the gate swung open. Sofie froze in her spot as she looked at the opening. Wordlessly the brothers backed away from the spot, giving her space to crawl out on her own. She took her time, first reaching her hand out, and then her head followed, and soon she was completely out, though still on all fours. Almost hesitantly she stood up, wobbling a bit and causing Ed to grab on to her to help steady her. He offered her a small smile, and instead of hissing at him she smiled back, showing her sharpened canine teeth.

"C'mon, let's leave this place," Ed said, moving towards the stairs with her in tow. He was still holding her hand to help keep her steady as she walked up the stairs. Once they'd all made it up Al touched the transmutation circle again and the stairs molded back into the floorboards. Sofie jumped a bit when the reaction began, hiding behind Ed to get away from it.

They were about to walk out of the door when Al's arm reached out and stopped them. "Wait, what are we going to do about her? She can't exactly walk out with cat ears and a tail. People will notice," he said, bringing to Ed's attention a very important problem. He looked at Sofie, taking note of her distinguishable appearance. Not only would the cat ears and tail stick out, but the t-shirt and shorts she was wearing weren't exactly the cleanliest. Sofie didn't seem to notice, and was instead looking at Al as if she was noticing him for the first time. Cocking her head, she approached him with her hand extended and touched his chest plate. He immediately stilled, not wanting to startle her and ruin the progress they'd made. Suddenly she tapped on his armor with her nails, producing a sharp sound that made Ed wince and her ears twitch.

"You're hollow," she noticed, surprising Ed and Al, who was now flustered.

"Y-yeah, so what?" he stuttered defensively, not used to people saying things like that to him. It caught him off guard.

"That's it!" Ed said brightly, distracting Sofie from her curiosity about Al. "We can hide her in you! As long as she stays silent, no one will notice her," he explained, pleased with his plan. Al, on the other hand, didn't really like it much.

"What? Don't I get a say in whether or not we hide her in me?" he asked, shocked his brother would suggest something like that. "Isn't there another way?" Ed, who was grinning, shook his head. Al looked from Ed to Sofie, and then seemed to give in. With an exasperated sigh he opened his chest plate just wide enough for Sofie to crawl in. She did it pretty easily, considering she was part cat. Once she was properly settled, the brothers walked out of the store and headed out in a general direction.

"So where are we going now?" Al asked, still miffed with Ed's 'brilliant' plan. It also felt weird for him to move, though Sofie wasn't trying to hinder him.

"We're going to find a hotel to stay in for the night, and then tomorrow we'll head back to Central to report to the Colonel," Ed responded, heading back towards the main part of town where he'd seen a hotel when they'd passed by.

"Okay, but what are we going to do with her?" Al asked, giving a slight gesture to the hybrid who was currently residing within him. Sofie, noticing they were talking about her, began to listen more intently as they talked. Ed was silent for a moment as he debated.

"We'll keep an eye on her tonight and help her get situated again, and then we're going to Central," Ed said finally. From his tone, Al could tell the topic was closed. He didn't agree with Ed and wanted to keep Sofie, yet he knew that would be difficult considering their position. Besides, he could convince Ed to keep her later; they still had the rest of the night.

* * *

**Yay, the first real chapter. Now everybody's met Sofie (isn't she cute!). The next chapter will be about them in Central, doing a lot of shopping. But that's not all it's about. Please review and tell me what you thought :)**


	3. Chapter 3

~ in the hotel room ~

Ed walked straight into the room and plopped down face-first on the first bed he saw, exhausted from the day's events. Al walked in the room, and after shutting the door behind him opened his chest plate to let Sofie out. Rather, falling out would be more accurate because she ended up sprawled on the floor before she picked herself up. She walked over to the couch and sat down, enjoying the soft feel of the cushions. It felt so good to her, especially when compared to the bottom of that crate. Al watched her with a bemused expression before turning to Ed, who was also peeking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm hungry," Sofie said suddenly, startling the boys. They'd barely heard her speak all day, so every time she did it surprised them. Ed and Al shared a quick look before nodding.

"I'll call room service and ask them to bring up some food," said Ed, moving towards the phone. Al moved towards Sofie to sit next to her on the floor, and was happy to see she didn't move away from him. Using this as encouragement, he tried to talk to her some more.

"So, Sofie, how are you feeling now? Better?" he asked, deciding to start with something simple. Both he and Ed wanted to know more about the details of her transmutation, but they thought that might be too much for her right now. Plus they didn't want to damage the fragile friendship that had formed between them. Sofie nodded enthusiastically to his question, giving a small smile that looked genuine. Now was the time when Al really wished he had a body so he could smile back at her. Ed had finished ordering food for them, so he walked over to sit down on the opposite end of the couch. An awkward silence followed, the boys trying not to make it obvious they were watching her, while Sofie sat there thinking, her tail and ears twitching.

Thankfully the food arrived not much longer with a knock at the door, making everyone jump. Ed got up to answer the door, and soon brought back two trays full of food. He set them both on the table opposite each other, sitting down on one side while Sofie moved from the couch to the floor next to Al. Not even bothering to grab her fork, she began picking at her food and eating it, slowly working through everything on the plate. She finished it faster than Ed did, and that was saying something. Ed was a little sad, because he'd hoped to take whatever she didn't eat, but instead she ate it all.

When she finished she yawned, stretching just like a cat before lying down, using the closest thing as a headrest. That closest thing just happened to be Al's leg. Al stilled when she touched him, unsure of what to do after that. He looked over at Ed helplessly, but Ed just shrugged before getting up and going to his own bed. Soon Ed fell asleep, still thinking about the stray cat they'd picked up.

~ next day ~

Ed sat up in his bed and looked around the hotel room he was in. When he saw Sofie, he momentarily forgot what she was doing here, until he remembered the previous day's events and it all dawned on him. With a groan he realized he'd have to decide what to do with her. Of course Al would want to keep her, but he wasn't sure if that was the right thing. She wasn't some pet, she was a human being. Mostly.

Al looked over after noticing Ed was up. "Brother, can we keep her?" he pleaded right off the bat. Ed sighed, knowing Al would've done something like that. He ran a hand through his messy hair, buying time before he answered.

"Look Al, she's not some random cat you find on the street. It would just be too much to bring her with us," he said, using the same excuse as before.

"No it wouldn't. She would be better than a normal cat because she can walk and talk and provide for herself. All we have to do is provide company," he argued. Ed never let him keep any of the cats he found, but this time he really wanted to keep her. As a friend, not a pet, though.

Ed had to admit, he had a much better argument. And Al was right, she was much better than the average cat. Plus, if Ed let Sofie stay with them, Al would stop asking for other cats. Maybe she wouldn't be so bad after all. While he was thinking, Al was watching his face closely to try and figure out what he was thinking. Al grew happier and happier as he saw Ed battle with himself, and lose. Finally Ed gave in with an exasperated sigh and a small nod. "But this doesn't mean you can have any other cats, okay," he said sternly, making a deal with Al, who happily nodded and accepted.

Ed walked over to where Al was to look over at Sofie, who was still sleeping despite the time. "Hey Ed, watch this," Al said. Silently, he reached a hand over to touch the base of her ear, scratching it for a few moments. In the silence, Ed could hear her soft purrs and smiled despite himself. It was just so cute to see her do that. "I've been doing that all night and I'm still not tired of her purrs," Al said happily. He stopped rubbing behind her ear briefly, making her nose twitch in annoyance, and grabbed Ed's hand, bringing it over to her head. He gave Ed an encouraging nod, who then started scratching. His grin grew wider when her purring started again.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open, startling Ed into yanking his hand away from her head, his cheeks turning slightly red at being caught. However, Sofie didn't seem to notice as she sat up and stretched again, yawning and rubbing her eye tiredly. "Hi," she said to them, to which they both responded with 'hi's at the same time. "So what are we going to do now?" she asked, probably the most she'd ever said since they found her. Ed, who had been staring at her, suddenly snapped to.

"We'll be heading back to Central later today, so we need to get ready for the train ride," Ed said, beginning to pack up his suitcase. That was really all that needed to be done, since they hadn't really spent much time there.

"What about me? What have you decided?" she asked Ed, her voice quieter than before. Ed turned around to look at her, and then he felt really sad looking at her. She was facing towards him, her head bowed down to look at the floor. Both of her ears were drooping down as well, and her tail had stopped its twitching, instead lying there like a dead weight.

"You can stay with us, for as long as you need," he relented, finally saying the words aloud. Immediately her whole demeanor changed, perking up from the sadness before. Her ears now stood at attention and her tail began its twitching again, and now she was smiling. Ed felt so much better now that she was smiling.

"I think there's one more thing we need to figure out," Al said, popping Sofie's happy bubble. She looked at him with a confused expression that slightly mirrored Ed's. "Her clothes. At least, we need to do something with her shirt," Al pointed out. All three of their heads turned to look at her t-shirt, which was wrinkled and torn up in several places. Her shorts were still good, just a little dirty, though maybe a little short. Neither of them minded much. But her shirt really was becoming an issue.

"We'll have to wait until we get to Central to go shopping, so until then she can…" he trailed off, looking around the room. There wasn't really anything for her to wear. His eyes stopped to rest on his suitcase, which was still lying open, revealing the clothes he had packed. Sighing, he pulled one of his shirts and tossed it to Sofie, who deftly caught it. "There, you can wear that for now and I'll also give you my red jacket. But this is only until we get to Central and can go shopping," he said, annoyed and slightly embarrassed to have her wearing his shirt. She ran into the adjacent bathroom to change, returning in Ed's black tank top. They had to admit, it looked much better on her than on him. It was slightly large on her, hanging almost to the edge of her shorts, but the slim shirt really accentuated her figure. Ed blushed a little when she walked over to him to get his jacket, which he took off quickly and handed over. She put it on and Ed was happy to see it fit her.

"She looks like a girl version of you, except for the hair and cat ears," Al noted, making her laugh for the first time. Ed scowled and tried to hide the growing blush on his face. Grabbing his suitcase angrily, he stomped out of the door, leaving Al and Sofie to follow. She put her hood up as she left the room, hiding her large ears, and she tried to keep her tail as still as possible. She walked next to Al, following behind Ed as he led them to the train station. They didn't have to wait long for the train to arrive, and when it did they boarded silently, Ed leading them to the farthest seat in the back of the car. He and Al sat on one side, with Sofie on the other. As soon as they were settled, she laid down and took a nap, true to her cat nature. The boys, not really knowing what to make of that, conversed softly with each other the rest of the train ride.

~ in Central ~

When the train began to slow down the Elric brothers decided to wake up Sofie. It was much harder than they expected. Poking her, prodding her, tickling her, pinching her; nothing worked. Until Ed accidentally stepped on the bit of her tail that was dangling off the seat. She woke up with a yowl, grabbing her tail and clutching it to her chest like a lifeline. Several of the other passengers looked back at them curiously, but Ed just waved them off. "Sorry about that," Ed said sheepishly, trying to apologize. Sofie said nothing back, instead just looking at him with an annoyed expression. After they got off the train, Sofie hung behind Ed and walked with Al, making Ed feel really left out and guilty.

They left the train station and headed to the shopping district. In reality though, Ed had no idea where he was going. He was hoping Sofie would notice a store and like something, otherwise they'd never get anywhere. Maybe they could ask Hawkeye? He immediately dismissed the idea. How would they keep Sofie's secret then? While Ed was musing, he didn't notice Sofie had stopped following them. In fact, he probably wouldn't have realized if Al hadn't wanted to ask her a question and looked back. Alerting Ed of her disappearance, they stopped and looked around frantically, trying to search for her. Luckily she wasn't that hard to find, considering she was the only one there wearing a bright red hood. That and she wasn't going anywhere; she had her nose pressed against the glass of some shop. Ed and Al quickly rushed to her, not wanting to lose her again.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Ed asked, the annoyance clear in his voice. After taking a closer look at the store his question was answered. "If you see something you like then go in. We're here to get you new clothes anyways," he told her. She turned to him with a happy look in her eyes before rushing inside, prompting the boys to follow her. Or Ed did, since Al couldn't fit, so he just waited outside. As Ed walked inside, he found Sofie already walking around, going through the different racks of clothes and picking out the ones she liked. After she had gathered a suitable amount of clothing she walked into the dressing rooms to change. Ed figured he'd have to wait a while so he sat down in the waiting area. As he was waiting, the shop owner approached him.

"Out shopping with your girlfriend, eh?" she said as she smiled at him. A blush appeared on Ed's face as he tried to correct her.

"N-no! She's not my girlfriend!" he said, though his reaction didn't do anything to help convince her. She merely laughed at him.

"That's nice of you," she said, walking away and leaving Ed to grumble to himself. Something about crazy shop ladies. It wasn't much longer before Sofie exited to show Ed her new outfit. He found himself staring at her while she waited for his response. She was wearing a short, pleated black skirt that reached halfway down her thigh with a white tank top. Over that she had on a light gray jacket with a hood to cover her ears. To add some color to her appearance, around her neck like a collar was a red choker with a small bell charm that tinkled when she walked. She had also chosen new black boots that reached up to her knees, the laces crisscrossing up her leg.

"So, what do you think?" she asked softly, wanting his opinion. So far he had been quiet when staring at her, and she didn't really know what to make of that. Ed shook himself out of his musings to answer her question.

"Umm, you look great. Better than before," he replied, earning small smile from her. He stood up and walked to the counter to pay for the clothes. As he did the shop lady shot him a sly grin, which he ignored and hoped Sofie didn't notice. When they walked out, the shop lady called out to Ed.

"You take care of her now," she called out to him. Ed paused a bit on his way out, giving the lady a minute nod before continuing. Al perked up when he saw them back outside.

"Wow Sofie, you look much better now," he said, earning a small smile. The group headed off again, and this time Ed had a destination in mind. Al, who recognized where they were heading, wondered why they were going to the park.

"Stay here while I go to HQ to turn in my report," Ed said once they'd arrived, setting his luggage down next to a bench. "And stay out of trouble you two," he said as he walked away. Al sat down on the bench, but Sofie darted of to the playground swings.

"Al, come and push me!" she shouted to him, waving her legs madly in a vain attempt to get the swing going. Sighing, he stood up and walked over to help her.

~ Ed ~

He quickly walked to the HQ, wanting to get back to Sofie as quick as possible. He was paranoid something was going to happen to her every time he turned away. Even the fact that Al was with her wasn't very comforting. Soon he arrived at the HQ building and quickly rushed inside to Mustang's office. When he found it he entered without any warning, startling the officers inside. "Hey boss," Havoc called out in greeting, but Ed barely acknowledged the man, continuing to Mustang's private office. "Nice to see you too," he muttered after Ed disappeared.

Mustang looked up, surprised to see Ed back so quickly. "Did you finish, or was it all stolen again?" he teased. Ed shook his head, pulling out his report from his jacket pocket.

"Nope; it was all there. Here's a report of everything we found," he said, handing it over. "Can I go now?" he asked, shifting impatiently from foot to foot. Mustang noticed this and decided to tease him.

"Have somewhere you need to be?" he asked, leisurely looking through the report.

"Yes, and I'd like to return as soon as possible," Ed said, the annoyance clear in his voice. But Mustang wasn't finished with him yet.

"What, meeting a girl?" he teased. To his surprise, Ed blushed slightly and looked away. Mustang's eyebrows rose as he leaned forward and rested his head on his hands, the report forgotten on his desk. "Is there something you want to tell me, Fullmetal? Have you met a girl?" he asked, his tone curious and slightly incredulous. For some reason he'd never expected the shrimp to date anyone, other than maybe that mechanic chick he knew.

"No! And she's not my girlfriend!" he burst out angrily, blushing still. Mustang grinned at Ed's slipup; so there was a girl.

"You can go now," he said, dismissing Ed, who turned and strode angrily out the door. "Be sure to bring her by the office sometime so we can meet her!" Mustang called out to his retreating figure.

"As if!" Ed called back, storming out of the office and back to the park where Al and Sofie were waiting. Thinking about her made him walk faster, the paranoia returning. On the walk back he recalled what Mustang had said to him, about Sofie being his girlfriend. Why did everyone assume they were together? They were just friends, if that at all. In fact, he was pretty sure she liked Al more than him.

But before he could elaborate on that thought, he realized he was back at the park. Noticing Al reclining under a tree, he walked over, though his eyes were searching for Sofie. When he couldn't find her he started panicking. "Al, where's Sofie?" he asked frantically, walking around the tree searching for her. Ed stopped on the other side of Al, who had yet to answer. He was about to ask again when he felt something furry touch his cheek. He yelped and jumped away, looking at it quizzically. Reaching out he grabbed it, his eyes following the length up the tree to the branch Sofie was resting on. Looking at the furry thing, he realized with a blush it was her tail that had escaped from under her skirt. She yawned and looked down at Ed with sleepy eyes.

"Hey, that's mine," she said lazily, flicking her tail out of his grip. He stuttered an apology and sat down next to Al, who was looking at him humorously.

"That was quite a scream you gave there. I didn't know you could hit a note that high," he mused, teasing Ed. Ed blushed and punched him on the arm, hurting his flesh hand more than Al.

"Whatever. Sofie, you shouldn't have done that. What if someone had seen it?" he asked, redirecting the topic of conversation.

"Nah, nobody's here anyways," she replied, sitting up. Without any warning she dropped down from the branch, landing just in front of Ed and startling him. He glared at her before looking away, annoyed. "I want to play a game," she told Ed, more as a demand than a request. He looked back at her confused.

"And what game would that be?" he inquired. It was an unusual request, especially considering how old she was. He never played games anymore, except for those verbal battles with Mustang. Judging by her grin, he didn't think it would be verbal.

"I want to play tag," she stated. Al started, shaking his head and holding his hands up to stop him.

"Brother don't! She's really good at tag; even I couldn't catch her," he said, trying to convince Ed otherwise. Of course, if Al couldn't do it Ed definitely wouldn't be able to, but something about the game made him want to play. Plus it would be a good way to help him forget about the events recently.

"You're on," Ed said, despite his brother's warnings. He stood up facing Sofie, awaiting the rules of the game.

"It's simple; all you have to do is tag me and you win. We'll keep going until you do or give up," she said.

"Fair enough," Ed agreed. He took off his red jacket in preparation for the game, rolling his shoulders to get loose. Ed grinned, getting into a ready stance. Sofie did the same, looking at Al for the 'go'. He sighed at the two, raising his arm. Bringing it down, he shouted "go!" and they took off.

Sofie took off running straight ahead towards the playground, Ed right at her heels. Though he didn't expect it to be easy to catch her, he didn't expect her to be so fast. No matter what, she always stayed a few steps in front of him, just out of arms reach. As they neared the jungle gym the grass changed to sand, slowing them both down a bit. She headed straight for the structure, easily weaving in and out underneath, leaving Ed to sloppily copy her movements. They avoided all of the play structures and left that section, going back to the grass. Sofie changed course, heading to the right where there were more trees.

Once they entered the trees it became a little harder for him to chase her; some of the undergrowth would obscure his vision of Sofie at times. There was a particularly difficult time when she darted between some evergreens growing together. Ed spared no thought about it and charged straight through, not surprised to have lost Sofie afterwards. Mentally cursing himself, he took off in a random direction to the right, lightly jogging while he looked around for her. After several minutes he couldn't find her. Frustrated, he growled as he kicked at a tree with his flesh leg, not wanting to leave a dent.

"Hey Ed, is that you?" someone called behind him, and he spun around immediately, spotting Maes Hughes and his family coming towards him. "What are you doing?" he asked, stopping by Ed. He paused a moment, unsure of whether or not to tell him. Hughes was trustworthy, so he went for it.

"I'm…looking for someone. Girl, about my age, black skirt and gray jacket, boots. Think you've seen her?" he asked, briefly describing what Sofie was wearing. Hughes thought for a moment and then looked at his wife, who shrugged.

"Sorry Ed, haven't seen her," he said. Suddenly Elysia started bouncing up and down, pointing to the small lake in the park.

"There! There she is!" she squealed happily. Ed looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough there was someone there. After a hasty goodbye to the Hughes family he made his way to Sofie, who was watching the afternoon sun sink.

"Tag. I win," he said, tapping her on the shoulder and startling her. She gave him a wry smile, peeking at him out of the corner of her eye as he stood next to her. She didn't say anything, though, and Ed looked out at the sun, wondering why it interested her so much.

"I've been here before," she began out-of-the-blue. Ed didn't say anything, keeping his surprise contained. "I lived here in Central with my parents before the Ishval war. When my dad left, my mom took me to that town where you found me. She's probably still there," she mused. After that it seemed she was done speaking and went back to watching the sunset.

"Sorry about taking you, then," Ed apologized. Neither he nor Al had thought she still had family, and they didn't think twice about bringing her with them.

"No problem. I didn't like my mother anyways. I'd always favored my dad," she said. Suddenly she started laughing, chuckling for no reason. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at myself. I have no idea why I'm telling you this. We met just yesterday, yet I'm telling you my past." She stopped and looked serious now, gazing out at the lake again. "Maybe it's because I feel like I can trust you," she mused.

"Well, for whatever reason you think, I'm glad you do," Ed replied, looking at her with a soft smile. Hesitantly, she turned to face him with a small smile of her own. "C'mon, Al's probably waiting for us. And I can tell him I won the game," he added, grinning. Sofie scowled when she remembered she'd lost, playfully elbowing him in the side. He took it with a grunt, lightly pushing her shoulder. They walked back to Al this time, silently enjoying the others' company.

When they could see Al still sitting under the tree Sofie took off running. With an indignant 'hey' Ed followed. Al heard his brother's shout and stood up, alert as he watched them come near. Sofie ran straight towards Al, stopping just in front of him with a big grin on her face. "So who won?" Al asked, just to give Ed the benefit of the doubt. But to his surprise, Ed started grinning and Sofie frowned. "No way! Don't tell me he won!" he said incredulously, looking between Ed and Sofie.

"I got distracted," she said offhandedly as a pathetic excuse. Ed laughed at her attempt and she glared at him. "Whatever. Can we go home now?" she said, stalking off in some random direction. The brothers didn't move, and soon Sofie had to stop and turn back because she had no idea where they lived.

"It's this way," Ed said, grabbing his suitcase and walking in the opposite direction. Sofie huffed as she ran to catch up with them.

~ Hughes & Mustang ~

"I saw it! You were right!" Hughes said happily into the telephone at his house.

"Of course I was. Now, what did she look like? Did you get a chance to talk with her? What were they doing?" Mustang asked quickly. He wanted details, and it seemed Hughes knew this because he was teasing the Colonel with vague and roundabout answers.

"I…don't know. I didn't get a good look at her from that distance," he said. Mustang sighed into the phone, clearly annoyed.

"Does she look pretty, at least?" he asked dejectedly, realizing he wasn't going to get anything useful out of Hughes.

"I don't know," Hughes repeated. "She had her hood up. But I do know she had great legs," he said. Mustang's interest piqued again and he was renewed with vigor.

"That's good, Hughes. But my question is: if she's this pretty, what is she doing with Fullmetal? Do you think you could do an investigation on her or something?" Mustang asked. Hughes laughed at him, and Mustang could hear it very clearly from the phone.

"Are you jealous?" he asked, still laughing.

"What! No; I'm just suspicious. I don't peg Fullmetal as the type to date, especially with his dedication to his research. Plus, it's more like I'm looking out for him. I don't want his first love to end tragically," Mustang said honestly. Hughes was still chuckling at Mustang, which annoyed him a little.

"As heroic as your intentions may be," he began, sighing, "it's not enough for me to do a formal investigation on her. Sorry, but I can't help you there. However, I could do some spying of my own if you want," he said, the energy back in his voice. Mustang's eyes lit up and his lips turned up in a smirk.

"Sure, Hughes. That would be amazing."

* * *

**OMG, Mustang amuses me. To think that he would be jealous Ed's found a friend that's a girl. Oh well. But poor Ed, everyone think's they're dating when they're not. And his reactions don't help either. So far, I'm not totally sure yet if there should be any pairings in the story. If you want to suggest one, leave me a review or PM me. No Roy/Ed though. You could also review just to tell me what you think. *wink*wink* Until next week folks :)**


	4. Chapter 4

~ next day ~

"So what are we going to do today?" Sofie asked Ed, skipping beside him on the sidewalk.

"Research, at the library," Ed replied. He couldn't forget the promise he and Al made to each other to restore their bodies even though Sofie was here. Now that they were more-or-less settled it was time to continue his research. "You don't have to stay with me; I'm sure Al wouldn't mind going to the park again with you," he said, offering her another option. He didn't really care if she came or not, but it would be boring. Sofie thought about it for a minute.

"Nah, I'll be fine at the library. Maybe I can find a good book to read while we're there, since you're so secretive about your work," she said, skipping ahead. She was a few paces away when she turned around to watch them. But something behind them caught her eye. She watched it with her eyes narrowed, and out of curiosity Ed turned around as well. He didn't see anyone suspicious, so they continued to the library.

~Hughes ~

He set off that morning on his day off to Ed's apartment, which he was also sharing with the girl. Using the camera Mustang gave him for documentation, he took a picture of the three of them exiting the building. After they started walking, he used his stealth skills to follow them, but from a distance. That made getting pictures hard, but he managed to get a few. He even got a really good one of the girl skipping and spinning. She looked almost as cute as Elysia! However, she noticed the flash on his camera and looked directly at him. He only had a moment to duck into a nearby store to prevent Ed from spotting and recognizing him.

When he peeked back out he realized they had entered the library already. So instead of going inside and blowing his cover, he sat down at the café across the street. Once he'd ordered a drink, he pulled out a book to keep himself entertained.

~ Ed, Al, & Sofie ~

Several hours later Ed got tired of reading books that yielded no clues as to where the philosopher's stone was. He let his head fall to the table with a thump. Al also looked up from his book to curiously watch his brother. "Hey brother, where's Sofie?" he wondered. Ed's head snapped up as he looked around their table, shoving stacks of books aside to see everything. He stood up, frantically looking around.

"Why does she always disappear like this? We need to put a leash on her," he growled, looking down nearby aisles.

"Brother! You don't put leashes on cats!" Al scolded.

"You're gonna put a leash on me?" Sofie said, walking out of an aisle with a couple of books in her arms. She walked to their table and cleared a section for her books, which she set down with a thump. Ed picked up the top one.

"_Cats and Their Different Personalities_. _How to Please Your Cat_," Ed read aloud, looking at her incredulously. "What the heck are these for?" he wondered.

"My research," she replied. "I want to know how this…operation has affected me, like what's really me and what's the cat in me. And the other book is for you two." Ed raised his eyebrows as he looked at the book. Al picked it up to leaf through it.

"_Rewarding and Pampering Your Cat_," he read to them. Sofie nodded happily.

"Yeah, there's some really great stuff in there. You should try it," she said enthusiastically. "There's something in there about rewarding your cat with treats and stuff, like catnip and milk." There was a dreamy look on her face as she recalled this.

"I think that's your inner cat speaking," Ed grumbled after glancing at the book. Sofie grabbed the book from Al to smack Ed before returning it.

"At least I know Al will take care of me. Speaking of which, I'm hungry and can't find any food in this library," she said. Ed shook his head and sighed as he put the books away before walking out of the library. Sofie followed, but as soon as she stepped outside she tensed up, her eyes locked on something across the street. Again Ed tried to spot what it was she was looking at, but he didn't see anything unusual, just people sitting at a café. He eyes narrowed one final time before she stalked off down the street.

This time it seemed Sofie was leading them, turning left or right whenever she pleased. Occasionally she would look behind them, and every time her eyes would narrow. Ed, now tired from the aimless walking and hungry, sped up to walk beside Sofie. "Where are we going?" he asked, the annoyance in his voice. She glanced at him out of the side of her eyes, and he was surprised to see her pupils had become more cat-like. Apparently when she got made her cat side started to appear.

"We're being followed; have been since we left the apartment," she said, surprising Ed. Now he knew why she kept looking behind them.

"So what do you want to do about it?" he wondered, coming up with plans of his own just in case.

"I don't know. I was trying to find a secluded place where we could confront him, but I haven't been able to find one yet," she said. Suddenly she pushed Ed to the right, grabbing Al's hand and dragging him with them into the alleyway. "Now let's see if he follows. Ed, you stand over there while Al and I hide here. Confront him as soon as he comes within range," she ordered, moving back to crouch behind Al, who was hiding behind some garbage. Ed flattened himself against the wall facing away from the direction they'd come to try to hide himself. They waited for several seconds before their follower appeared hesitantly at the entrance of the alley.

~ Hughes ~

When the trio left the library he got up and followed. The entire time, though, he wondered where they could be going. To him they seemed to be wandering aimlessly. Not once did it occur to him they might've realized he was following them and were trying to ditch him. He was too confident in his abilities. However, when he saw them suddenly dart down an alley his military training kicked in, immediately suspecting a threat to the trio, not realizing the threat they saw was him. He started moving quicker towards the alley, his hand reaching to where his knives were concealed.

He entered the mouth of the alley hesitantly, his eyes searching for threats or the kids. He barely managed to register the movement to his right before he was roughly pushed against the wall, a fist appearing in front of his face. He held up his hands in surrender. "Please don't hurt me!" he begged.

"Hughes?" he heard, and then he felt himself being released. He opened his eyes, which he had subconsciously shut, to see Ed looking at him with confusion. "What are you doing here?" he asked, before turning to look further into the alley. "Is this who was following us the entire time?" he asked, seemingly to no one. Hughes watched as a figure stood up from behind a pile of armor he recognized as Al. She stood up and walked over to Ed, standing as far away from Hughes as possible.

"Yeah, it's him," she confirmed. Hughes was stunned she had figured out he'd been following them. She must have real skill. "Do you know him?" she asked Ed, who nodded.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, an Investigations Officer for the Amestrian army," Ed said, introducing Hughes, who bowed to Sofie. However, Sofie was slowly backing away, her eyes wide with fear.

"Miss, is something wrong? I'm terribly sorry –" Hughes said, intending to apologize for the stalking while reaching out to lay a reassuring hand on her, but it never connected. As soon as he tried to move towards her she lurched backwards, stumbling and falling over onto her rear.

"No! Don't touch me! I don't want to go back!" she shouted, quickly standing up before she turned and ran, blending into the crowd to aid her escape. Ed ran to the entrance of the alleyway in an attempt to stop her, but she was too fast and he lost her in the crowd. Cursing, Ed punched the wall with his automail fist, chipping the brick a bit. Then he rounded on Hughes.

"What the hell were you thinking, following us like that?" he demanded from the man, who shrank back against the wall from the intensity.

"N-nothing. I was just following you like Mustang said to," he explained, flinching under Ed's angry gaze. His mood seemed to darken when he heard Mustang's name.

"Of course that bastard would be involved," he muttered to himself, though they all heard it.

"Don't blame him. You kinda started it when you mentioned her to him the other day. He's just looking out for you, Ed," he said, trying to defend Mustang. It didn't seem to help, judging by the way Ed's eyes narrowed.

"That doesn't mean he has to send someone to spy on us. Damn, now she probably thinks the military's out for her. I don't think she'll even trust us anymore," Ed ranted, his anger getting the best of him. Hughes caught the underlying meaning and inquired further, gathering more information to tell Mustang.

"Why would she think the military's out for her?" he asked, making Ed freeze in his position. It would've been comical if the situation hadn't been serious. Ed, realizing his mistake, frantically thought of how to deter Hughes from questioning Sofie further.

"N-nothing! Just stay out of her business!" he shouted defensively before storming out of the alleyway, eager to distance himself from Hughes before he slipped up again. The military, or at least Mustang, was already curious about Sofie thanks to Ed, and he didn't want to give them a reason to look deeper into her history. Al, after a hasty goodbye and apology to Hughes, rushed out to follow his brother.

"Where are we going? Where do you think Sofie ran off to?" he asked, the worry clear in his voice. Ed would've cursed out loud, but he didn't want to attract any more attention. He had absolutely no idea where Sofie was, yet he wasn't going to tell Al that and crush his hopes.

"We'll look around town for now. She'd want somewhere secluded where she could hide, so that's where we should start," he reasoned, already thinking about hiding places for Sofie. Assuming she'd run to someplace no one would think to look for her, that's where Ed headed first. His instincts guided him to the darker part of the city, generally where all the black market-type stuff occurred. The military wouldn't ever dare to come here, so what better place to hide.

~ Sofie ~

She just ran. There was no destination in her mind as she rushed through the crowd. Her only goal was to get as far away from that alley as possible. It blew her mind. Someone from the military had been following her! But the one thought that kept rolling through her mind was the fact that they wanted her back. They wanted to continue experimenting on her, now that Wilhelm was gone. That was the only reason she could see for them following her. But she'd made a promise to herself when she left his lab to never be an experiment again, and to live her life as normal as possible. She was not going to break her promise, even if it meant living on the run.

Thinking about her promise, she remembered the Elric brothers. She'd left them in the alley with the man _that they knew_. Of course Ed would know him, because he's also in the military, but she'd thought he was better than that. There was something in him that told her he wasn't one of the military's dogs, which was why she'd trusted him. Apparently that trust had been misplaced.

When her breathing started to get ragged she slowed down, looking at her surroundings. Due to her feline abilities, she had enhanced endurance, meaning she could run much farther and faster than a normal human. And because she hadn't been paying attention, she'd run a lot farther than intended. The area she was in was seemingly deserted, garbage littering the street and making it a generally dirty place. Hopefully no one would be able to find her there, and she decided to stop for the afternoon. She could move somewhere else tomorrow and figure out how to get out of the city without being found. But right now she was tired and heartbroken, like a lost cat.

She chuckled at her comparison as she explored a nearby abandoned building. It looked like it was in the process of being renovated because there was scaffolding along the outside and it looked pretty empty. She wandered through the building, making her way upwards to the roof so she could see the sky while she rested. She found a semi-comfy spot leaning against the edge and just watched the clouds, trying not to think about her crappy day. Pretty soon, though, she fell asleep.

When she woke up again the sky had darkened significantly into night, the moon and the stars the brightest things in the world. She watched it with a smile on her face as she enjoyed the peacefulness, which was soon interrupted by a noise in the distance. Her ears twitched as they tried to identify the sound, but it was too far away for her to tell. She figured it was nothing and settled down for sleep again.

~ Ed & Al ~

"Sofie!" Ed called out into the night. "Sofie, where are you !"

"Brother, we should turn in for the night. She won't be able to leave the city; we can search tomorrow," Al said. He and Ed had been looking for Sofie everywhere since she'd run away, yet there hadn't been any signs of her. By now it was already nighttime, and he knew for a fact Ed was getting tired too, even if he wouldn't admit it.

"We can't just leave her out here, Al. What if something happens?" Ed argued. He absolutely refused to give up on Sofie, thinking it his entire fault that she'd run away in the first place. It was his fault that Mustang had been too damn curious and sent Hughes to follow them. He didn't even want to know what Sofie thought about him now.

He was fairly sure she blamed him for this.

"She should be fine for the night. She's nothing if not good at running and hiding," Al reassured, recalling their game of tag yesterday when she had managed to evade him the entire time Ed was gone. The only reason he'd found her was because she'd stopped to rest in the tree.

"I still don't like it," Ed grumbled, but he listened to his brother and began heading back to their hotel. Some part of him hoped Sofie had returned while they were gone, but he knew she wouldn't do that. That didn't stop him from feeling downcast when they returned to an empty apartment.

~ Mustang & Hughes ~

Hughes walked into Mustang's office after leaving the alley. Mustang barely looked up until he dropped the developed photos onto his desk, which he grabbed eagerly. He looked at them with interest, absorbing every detail Hughes had captured about Ed's mysterious "girlfriend." "These are brilliant, Hughes," he said finally, placing the photos down. "I should ask you to spy on girls more often," he remarked, making Hughes scowl.

"Sorry, but I'd rather spend time with my family," he replied.

"Aw, come on. You're much better at this than I am. I could never be stealthy; my brilliance is just too easy to spot," Mustang said jokingly, flipping his hair for effect. Hughes frowned and looked troubled.

"I don't know about that," he said. "Apparently she'd known I was following her and they set up an ambush for me in an alleyway," he admitted to a surprised Mustang.

"That's good! Did you get a chance to talk to her? Did you get her name?" he asked excitedly, leaning forward in his chair in anticipation. Hughes shook his head and Mustang sat back dejectedly.

"No, but I did learn something interesting," Hughes said but paused, leaving Mustang in suspense for a moment. "She doesn't seem to trust the military at all, because when she realized who I was she took off, muttering something about not wanting to go back. Of course, then I got yelled at by Ed and then he stormed off too." When he finished he watched Mustang, who seemed to be deep in thought, digesting this new information.

"This has taken an interesting turn," Mustang remarked. "Are you sure you can'd do an investigation on her? At least look into her background or something," Mustang pleaded. Hughes shook his head again.

"Sorry, but I don't think so. And even if I could, I don't know who to look for. I don't know her name, or anything really about her." Mustang scowled.

"Fine, we'll leave her alone for now. But if you see her again, make sure to get her name," Mustang ordered. Now it was Hughes' turn to scowl as he left the office, heading back to his own house. After an entire day away, he was excited to see his darling little girl and beautiful wife.

* * *

**In response to my question in the previous chapter about pairings, I got one response for Sofie & Ed. If I don't get any others, I'm going with that one. But it won't come, not really, until later chapters (I think). It will have some influence in the plot, though. **


	5. Chapter 5

~ Sofie ~

Sofie was having a lazy start that morning. She'd gotten up earlier, but when she remembered the previous day she fell into a sad stupor, suddenly losing her motivation to get up and leave. So she decided to take a short nap, which felt rather good right now with the morning sun shining warmly on her body. She'd taken off her jacket yesterday, so now her ears and tail could move freely and soak up the heat as well.

Sofie had been like this for a couple of hours, uninterrupted, when a shadow fell across her face. She woke up immediately to find a man looking at her sadly. Her instincts kicked in and she sprang up into a defensive crouch, baring her teeth in a hiss as her ears flattened back. On her hands her nails grew slightly, sharpening to fine points, perfect for scratching someone. Her eyes also took on a more slit-like appearance. Anyone who knew anything about cats would've been able to tell she was ready for trouble. However, the man, who noticed these changes, stood his ground as he observed her.

During their little stare down, Sofie took the opportunity to observe him, trying to analyze his abilities. He was extremely tan compared to most in Central, and his arms were well muscled, a tattoo completely decorating one. He had short and wild gray hair, and wore glasses that obscured his eyes. However, they couldn't cover up the two scars that crossed in the center of his face. All in all, he looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

"You poor thing," he said suddenly, startling Sofie out of her thinking. "It pains me to think someone would do this to another human being. Come here, child, so I can relieve you of your pain," he said, reaching out to Sofie with his tattooed arm. For some reason, her instincts were telling her to avoid it at all costs. She ducked to the left and jumped onto the ledge of the roof, balancing precariously while she watched him. He regarded her carefully, though she could tell he was surprised and a little annoyed.

"Calm down; there's no need to be afraid. I only want to help you," he said, slowly walking forward so he wouldn't startle her, as if she was a real stray cat. She shook her head, and was glad to see his jaw clench in annoyance. But he didn't stop his advance. As soon as he was within distance, he lunged toward her, trying to grab her. Only her cat-like reflexes saved her as she jumped to the side and out of the way. Standing up, she took off running on the ledge away from him. With a curse under his breath he followed, staying just behind her and out of reach.

It was a fairly large building, but it had to end sometime. As soon as Sofie saw the edge her mind went into hyper-drive, frantically searching for escape routes. When she reached the corner she realized there was only one option: jump. It seemed the guy had also realized this too, because he stopped running, instead approaching with an almost predatory stalk. "There's nowhere to run now kitty. Just come to me and I'll end your misery. I promise I'll destroy the alchemist who made you," he said unconvincingly. In response, Sofie shook her head and dropped off the ledge to the ground. The man rushed to look over and was surprised to see her crouching on the ground instead of splattered about. That had been a six-story drop!

Sofie looked up at her attacker and flashed him a grin, waving goodbye as she took off down the nearest alleyway. The grin slipped off her face as she concentrated on where she was going. She wouldn't want to accidentally circle back and meet him again. She wandered around the backstreets, trying to find her way to the more crowded areas of the city, that way if he did find her again he wouldn't kill her immediately and she could get help. By listening to the sounds of the bustle of the crowd she was able to make her way to an alley behind one of the main shopping roads.

As she was getting ready to step out she remembered her jacket, which she'd left back at the building in her haste to get away. She cursed and looked around, but there was nothing to hide her ears. Having no other choice, she flattened her ears as much as she could against her head, rearranging her hair over them to help blend in with her hair, making it look like she had black highlights. Now confident she looked as normal as possible, she prepared to leave, but something wrapped itself around her neck and yanked her back.

She hesitantly looked behind her to see the same man as before and gulped. "You're not going anywhere, kitty," he said to her, dragging her backwards. No, Sofie thought, she would not die here. Flexing her fingers, her nails elongated into claws like earlier and she lashed out, her nails scratching deep into the arm around her neck. Startled, the man let go of her with a yelp and she spun around to face him, determination on her face. He was clutching his arm, trying to stop the bleeding, and he looked at her with fury.

"That's it, kitty, you're life ends here," he growled out before he lunged at her, the arm with the tattoos reaching out to touch her. She easily moved out of the way and avoided his hand, and as he was passing by her she lifted her leg and let his momentum carry himself onto her knee, striking him in the gut. He coughed for a bit but regained his composure quickly. He spun around to face Sofie, who was already ready for him in a defensive position. He attacked again, except this time with a series of punches and kicks. Sofie had no choice but to take the defensive, trying to avoid his right hand, which was now crackling with a red energy.

He was attacking relentlessly, and Sofie got to see just how that arm of his worked. He was blowing several things up, and the small explosions were starting to catch the attention of some of the people passing by. A few of the braver ones even peered into the alley, but she wasn't sure if they'd help.

Sofie, who had been slowly trying to inch her way out of the alley, found herself a little too close to an explosion for comfort, and the resulting blast pushed her out of the alley and onto the crowded street of people. However, this didn't stop the man from following her. Sofie hastily stood up, wincing a bit from the newly acquired sprained ankle, along with several small cuts from shrapnel and the ground. Also, her skirt and shirt were now slightly torn and singed. But this was the least of her problems, as the man was still bent on blowing her brains out. He began his relentless barrage again, though he wasn't blowing stuff up now that people were beginning to gather.

Dodging was harder for Sofie now with her sprained ankle. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer in her condition, but she didn't expect it as soon. In order to avoid one of his lunges, she executed an almost perfect back-handspring. Almost. Her landing was less than stellar as her ankle gave out and she fell on her rear. There were several gasps of horror from the crowd when he started to advance on her. He stopped right in front of her, reaching out with his non-tattooed hand to grab the front of her shirt, dragging her up so he could look her in the eyes.

"I've finally got you. You know," he said with a glance at her semi-hidden ears, "I never expected someone like you to fight so hard for your life. But rest assured, it'll be alright from now on," he said. His free hand started to crackle to life, and for the second time in her life Sofie felt the fear of dying.

~ Ed & Al, earlier that morning ~

They were heading to Central HQ that morning because Ed wanted to give Mustang a piece of his mind. Now that he'd thought about it a little more, he realized Mustang was partially to blame. So that was why he was storming into the office, demanding to see Mustang.

"He's not here yet, boss," Havoc replied, to Ed's dismay.

"Fine. I'll just wait in his office," he said before stomping inside. Of course it would be empty, just like Havoc said, so Ed sat down on the couch with a huff, Al standing behind him. Almost without meaning to he pulled out the picture of Sofie that was still in his pocket. He looked at it, wishing desperately he knew where she was, or at least if she was alright.

"Are you still worried about her?" Al asked, though the answer was pretty obvious. Still, Ed's small nod confirmed his answer. "Don't worry. After this we can continue to look for her," he said, and Ed nodded in agreement. Before their conversation could go any further, the door opened and Mustang walked in with a smirk on his face.

"I heard you needed to talk to me. Having girl issues?" he teased, noticing the photo that was in Ed's hand. The moment he said that Ed jumped up to deny it, the picture fluttering out of his hand, momentarily forgotten.

"No. I just can't believe you sent Hughes to spy on us!" he burst out, making Mustang flinch a bit. He was now sitting at his desk, reclining as he enjoyed the fact Ed's presence prevented him from doing paperwork. Still, the level of Ed's annoyance surprised him. Why was he so worked up over a simple matter as that? If Mustang were Ed, he'd be more concerned about that Scar fellow that was hunting alchemists.

"Fullmetal, I can't believe you're upset about that. It's not like she dumped you or anything," he said calmly, as if trying to console him. "Besides, there are other girls."

"We're not dating!" was his first reply; it had become a reflex by now. "And I do have a reason to be upset. She's missing in the city," he said. Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? She could just be trying to hide from you. Don't assume the worst over something so little," Mustang said, practically dismissing the whole ordeal. Ed was now in a worse mood than when they'd arrived.

"Little!?" he repeated, standing up and walking over to Mustang's desk, leaning on it to get in Mustang's face. "Apparently you aren't grasping the severity of the issue. It is important we find her before something bad happens," he said, trying to get Mustang to take it a little more seriously. Mustang was getting ready to retort when the door slammed open and a frantic Havoc entered the room.

"Sir! Our assistance is needed in the city! Scar has been spotted in an alley, and it seems he's attacking someone!" he reported. Mustang nodded and stood up to leave.

"Wait! Let us go with you," Ed said. Mustang was about to deny him when he caught a glimpse of Ed's face. He seemed genuinely worried, and Mustang decided it wouldn't hurt to let him come. Ed was grateful. All of a sudden he got this large sense of foreboding, and he couldn't help but worry it had something to do with Sofie.

The entire team got ready, and they all piled into two cars. Mustang, Hawkeye, Ed, and Al all got into one car. Mustang was driving much like a madman, speeding towards the site as if his life depended on it. It didn't take them long to get there, arriving at the scene at just the right time. They pushed through the crowd, trying to get to the center to see what was going on. However, they froze when they saw it, especially Ed and Al. Scar was in the middle of the circle, holding a slightly injured Sofie off of the ground with one hand. His other hand crackled with a red alchemic energy, snapping Ed out of his shock.

Quickly, he jumped into action, springing forward. He rushed to them, grabbing and pushing Sofie off to the left while placing himself in the way, his automail arm coming up to block the blow from Scar. There was a moment of shock as they watched his arm get blown to tiny metal pieces. Scar was probably the most shocked out of them all. He turned around to run, but the soldiers Mustang brought had surrounded him, their guns pointed at Scar. Thinking quickly, he used his arm to blast a hole in the ground, using the resulting confusion to make his escape, though not without one last glare at Sofie, who was currently clutching Ed's shoulder while his one good arm held her to him.

Ed certainly had not expected this when he came with Mustang, but he was glad to have finally found Sofie. After he'd pushed her away and Scar had escaped, she practically launched herself at him, apologizing while trying not to cry. It was confusion afterwards. They were led off to the side by some policeman who had just arrived, and Ed was glad to be out of the bustle. It felt a little weird without his automail arm as he sat there, leaning on the wall. Sofie was sitting next to him, clutching his only hand as if she never wanted to be separated from them again. Al was standing on the other side of Ed, watching him with what they assumed was a worried expression.

"Ed, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. But he wanted to kill me," she said, a little hysterical. She wasn't really used to battle, or people getting injured like this. She felt guilty for what happened to Ed, even though he was trying to convince her it was nothing.

"Sofie, it's fine. I can get a new arm. I'm just glad we got there in time," he said. The 'or else' at the end of his sentence was unspoken, but Sofie understood it just as well. "No one's really hurt, so I'd say this went much better than usual. Don't worry about it."

"Yes, you're right. Thank you, by the way," she said, giving Ed a small smile. Just then Mustang noticed their little group off to the side, and he decided to finally meet Ed's mysterious 'girlfriend.'

"Hello Edward, Alphonse. And who is this? I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, Ed's commanding officer and the Flame Alchemist," he said smoothly, holding his hand out to Sofie to shake, which she did hesitantly.

"I'm Sofie," she replied in a small voice, a definite change from before. "I'm a friend of Ed and Al." Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"And tell me, how did you meet? I wasn't aware they had many friends. Especially ones as pretty as you," he said, making Sofie blush and Ed scowl.

"Mustang, leave her alone," Ed growled. Thankfully, Hawkeye walked up to them to give her report.

"Colonel, it seems Scar has disappeared into the sewers. Do you want us to pursue him?" she asked. Mustang shook his head.

"No, it would be too difficult to follow him; we'd just waist our time," he replied. She nodded stiffly before turning to look at Ed and Sofie, probably just noticing her for the first time.

"Oh, hello. I'm 1st Lt. Riza Hawkeye," she said, also introducing herself to Sofie. After further inspection of Sofie, she asked, "Are you okay? I can call the medic if you need it." Sofie was about to deny it, but Hawkeye had called them anyways. They came over to escort Sofie away, much to her protest.

"N-no! I don't want to go to the doctor's. I'm fine, really. They're just a few scrapes. I can handle it. Please don't make me go," she said, struggling in vain against the bigger medics that were trying to lead her away. Suddenly she calmed as a gentle hand was laid on her shoulder. Looking behind her, she found it was Ed.

"Don't struggle; they only want to help you," he said, trying to calm her. "We'll be there the entire time," he assured her. Nervously, she nodded and gave no more trouble to the medics. And because she was only complying with them due to Ed, they let him and Al ride in the car with her to the hospital. It was a little crowded with Al taking up most of the backseat, but they managed to make it work. Sofie ended up sitting partially on Al's leg, with her legs resting on Ed's lap since he was sitting beside Al.

When they got to the hospital Sofie had to be helped inside and into their room, her ankle causing a great deal of pain to walk on. She ended up using Ed as a crutch. After Sofie got settled on her bed the doctor began checking all of her scrapes and her ankle, wrapping it up. Once he was done with Sofie he turned to check out Ed. "Are you alright, sir?" he asked. Ed nodded.

"I'm fine. It was only my automail arm," he replied. The doctor accepted this and left them alone, allowing Sofie to stretch out her cat ears. "I guess this means I'll have to get new automail," Ed said, a nervous look appearing on his face. "Maybe she won't kill me when I say it was to help someone else, right?" he worried, looking at Al, who shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably. You should call her in advance, though, or she'll definitely be annoyed," he wisely advised. Through the entire conversation Sofie was confused. She had no idea who they were talking about.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Ed has to get his automail replaced by his mechanic, a childhood friend of ours. But she likes to throw wrenches when he does something stupid, like breaking his automail. She can be really scary sometimes," Al explained. Sofie nodded in understanding, but her mind was elsewhere. Did this mean they were going to leave her? She didn't want to separate again, otherwise that man might come back to kill her.

Ed and Al noticed Sofie's worried expression and shared a look. "You know," Ed began, catching her attention, "you can come with us. I'm sure Winry would love to meet you," he said. At first Sofie was surprised, but that soon turned into a grin.

"Sure, sounds like fun," she replied, causing Ed to grin as well. If Al could've, he probably would've too.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow we'll all head to Resembool," Ed said, while Sofie and Al nodded.

~ Mustang's office ~

Ed had just called, letting him know that the three of them were going to Resembool to fix Ed's automail. Of course Mustang was worried about them getting in trouble, so he assigned an escort to accompany them. Now he was waiting for Major Armstrong, whom he had chosen, to get there so he could tell him about his new mission.

While he was thinking about them, his gaze wandered to the couch where Ed had been while they were 'talking.' That was when he realized there was something there, on the floor, and out of curiosity he went to pick it up. That side was blank, but on the back was a picture. He recognized it because Ed had been looking at it earlier that day. He must've dropped it accidentally.

Mustang was just going to put it away and save it for when Ed came back, but he couldn't help but glance at it. To his surprise, it was a girl, and she looked familiar. With a start he realized it was Sofie, though she had different colored hair. He was still standing there, lost in his thoughts, when Armstrong entered his office. "Sir, you wanted to see me," he said in his deep voice, startling Mustang. "What are you looking at, sir?" Wordlessly Mustang showed him the picture, and Armstrong took it to get a better look.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Abrams's daughter. I haven't seen her since she was a little baby. How did you get this?" Armstrong said, surprising Mustang.

"Wait, you know her?" he asked, asking the first question that popped into his mind. Armstrong shook his head.

"I've only met her once, but I've met her father several times. He also fought in the Ishval war," Armstrong explained. "You probably never met him, but I talked to him a few times. He told me about his family in Central, and how he had a young daughter. We became pretty good friends." He paused in his story, and when he continued his voice was somber and expression grim. "He died in a raid before the war ended. When we returned I decided to visit his family to pay my respects, but I'd heard they moved to some small town not too far away. You know, that one with the alchemist that was recently arrested. Still, I visited them, and that was when I met his daughter, Sofie, for the first time. After that I never saw her again," he finished, wiping an almost-tear out of his eye dramatically.

Mustang had been eagerly listening to Armstrong's story, glad to finally be learning something about this mysterious new girl. While thinking about it, he almost forgot Armstrong was even there. "Um, sir, did you call me in here for a reason?" Armstrong asked after a fairly long pause. Mustang snapped to.

"Yes, right, the mission. I want you to follow the Elric brothers and Sofie while they go to Resembool to fix Fullmetal's arm," he explained. Armstrong looked happy with his new mission.

"Now I can see little Sofie again. I wonder if she would recognize me. She probably will because of my great beauty that has been passed down…" he kept talking to himself as he left Mustang's office to go get ready. Mustang was a little glad not to have to listen to that again. But now he had something new and more important to think about. He quickly grabbed the phone and dialed Hughes, anxious to share this new information with him.

* * *

**So you know how all of the military personnel in FMA have a military origin right? Well, Sofie's last name also does. It comes from the American tank M1 Abrams. It's a really tough tank still in use today. **

**Spoiler alert: Winry will be in the next chapter. I was wondering, since y'all asked for Ed/Sofie as the pairing, if you wanted there to be some tension/jealousy between Winry and Sofie. Leave me a review with your opinion. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6. I looked at the reviews from the last chapter, and as requested there isn't really much tension between Sofie and Winry, which is totally fine with me. I think I'm happy with the way it turned out.**

* * *

Surprisingly, they were able to leave the next morning. Sofie's ankle had healed up a lot faster than they expected, and now it was only a little sore. She didn't have to be supported, and could walk on her own to the train station. An unusual sight greeted them when they arrived. "Edward! Alphonse! Sofie!" Ed and Al froze, recognizing the voice immediately, while Sofie looked around for the source of the noise.

"Oh god, please say he's not our escort," Ed pleaded. However, the Major began making his way over to them, confirming Ed's worst fear.

"Hello there ~ ! I shall be your escort for this trip," he said, walking up to the group. Ed nodded and then walked past him, boarding the train separately so he wouldn't be associated with the loud Major. The rest of them had no choice but to follow or risk getting left behind.

Ed had already chosen a spot in the back of the train and was sitting there while looking out the window, his head propped up on his only arm. Al sat across from him and Sofie sat next to Al, leaving Armstrong to sit next to an uncomfortable Ed. "So," the Major began, starting a conversation as the train left, "I don't believe we've officially met," he said to Sofie. "I am Major Alex Louis Armstrong. And I believe you are Sofie Abrams, correct?" Sofie was stunned for a moment, and then suspicious. She looked at him with narrowed eyes, while the Elric brothers looked at her curiously.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, the threat barely visible in her voice.

"Oh? You don't remember me?" Armstrong said sadly. He looked like he was about to cry; Sofie almost felt sorry for him.

"Nope. I think I'd remember someone like you," she said. Suddenly Armstrong brightened.

"Maybe this will help," he said as he stood up and flexed. Immediately his shirt was ripped to shreds, showing off his muscled body that was now surrounded by several pink sparkles. Sofie, Al, and Ed, as well as several other people close by, were appalled by the display. "Does this bring back any memories?" Armstrong asked, posing in ways that showed off his muscles.

"Umm, you know, know that I think about it, I think I do remember you. Yeah," Sofie said nervously. "You visited my mother and I once, when I was younger," she said. Armstrong nodded somberly, pulling on a new shirt.

"Yes, I did. Oh, what a horrible night that was," he said dramatically, tears threatening to drop.

"Yes, it was, but could you please not cry over it. I thought you military men were supposed to be strong," Sofie said, effectively putting a stop to the Major's tears.

"You are right. Therefore, when we get to the Elrics' house, I shall prove to you how strong I am. Did you know my strength was passed down the Armstrong line for generations?" he said. Edward groaned and let his head fall against the window.

"Please don't," he pleaded, though Armstrong didn't seem to hear him. Instead he had engaged Al in a conversation about his armor, something about how strong it was compared to his and if he would like to see in an arm wrestling match. Al was respectively trying to decline, but the Major's insistence soon led him to give in.

A suitcase was set up in between them and they got ready, placing their elbows on the edges and grasping each other's hands. The moment Sofie shouted 'go' the match began, and it looked like quite a struggle, neither giving in. However, after several moments, Al began to gain dominance as Armstrong's hand came to touch the suitcase. Armstrong looked at his hand touching the suitcase in wonder, then up at Al. "Best two out of three?" he suggested, and Al gave in. He lost again. "Three out of five?" Armstrong was never one to give up.

And so it continued for the rest of the train ride, with Ed and Sofie watching Al and Armstrong arm wrestle.

~ several hours later in Resembool ~

By the time the train had reached Resembool, Armstrong had lost to Al thirty-seven times, not winning once. The lesson learned here: you can't beat a suit of armor. However, Armstrong refused to give up, challenging Al again later. Ed and Sofie ignored them, instead leading the way to the Rockbell's house.

"So what's Winry like?" Sofie asked Ed, curious about their childhood friend. Though what they'd said about her so far confused Sofie. She was imagining her as a scary, hotheaded, violent mechanic right now. It frightened Sofie a little to be heading to her house.

"Umm, well Winry's a mechanic, so she really likes machines and all that stuff," Ed said, unsure of what else to say. "She's only a little violent, and even then she only ever hits me with her wrench. I don't know why though," he said. Sofie was a little relieved to hear she wouldn't be brained, though she did feel sorry for Ed.

"Maybe it's her way of flirting with you," Sofie wondered aloud, and Ed just happened to hear it.

"What!?" he squeaked, the tips of his ears turning red. "I don't think she likes me that way! You're just making stuff up," he accused. "Besides…" he began, but he didn't elaborate. Sofie shrugged.

"Probably. Because what do I know about boys?" she relented. Ed scowled and picked up the pace to the house. Not too many minutes later they arrived, Ed knocking on the door with his one arm and then taking a step back, hiding somewhat behind Al for protection. They heard an 'I got it!' from inside and soon after the door opened to reveal a blond girl about their age. She had a red bandana on her head, and wore a light purple overall that was tied at her waist, revealing a black tube top underneath.

"Oh, Ed, you're finally here," she said, a wrench nowhere in sight much to Ed's relief. "Well, come on in. We've got dinner ready since we knew you guys would be arriving soon," she said, leading them into the dining room. "Here, have a seat while I go get the rest of the food from the kitchen," she said, disappearing into another room. As they sat down, Pinako walked in and joined them.

"Hello Edward, Alphonse. It's so good to see you again, even though you're only here for repairs," she said, sighing. "Oh well, at least you're here. And you brought some guests. Would you mind introducing us?" she said, looking at Ed, who was sitting right across from her. Sofie sat beside him, while Al sat across from Sofie next to Pinako. Armstrong was settled at the end of the table next to Ed and Pinako.

"This is Major Armstrong, who was assigned to escort us here, not that we need it," he muttered that last part under his breath, but Sofie heard it and giggled. "And this is Sofie Abrams, a friend we recently met. She's staying with us, so she came along as well."

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you," Sofie said politely, surprising Pinako.

"She's so sweet. I think it's good you've found another girl friend to hang around with," she said. Of course, Ed singled out those two little words and immediately said the first thing that came to his mind.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Those at the table looked at him weirdly, especially Pinako.

"I never said she was. If you'd actually listen a bit you would've understood that. But the real question is," she said, grinning a bit, a dark gleam in her glasses, "why are you so adamantly denying it?"

"Because everyone keeps assuming we're dating! Mustang, Hughes, that weird shopkeeper lady. It's annoying, and dating you would be weird," he said, the tips of his ears starting to turn red again. That and a slight blush was beginning to show.

"Oh, I didn't realize you thought me so weird, Edward. But I see how it is," Sofie said, pretending to tear up as she turned away from Ed. Ed immediately grew even more flustered as he tried to apologize furiously.

"N-no, that's not what I meant. I don't think you're weird; you're perfectly normal. Maybe even better," he said quickly, but Sofie wasn't really paying attention. She was giggling because of his reaction, and Pinako was also having a light chuckle at his suspense. Thankfully, Winry reappeared, saving him from any further harassment by Pinako and Sofie.

"Okay, I just put the finishing touches on the pie, but that'll be for after dinner. Hey –" she began, but stopped after just entering the room. They all looked to her curiously, but Winry was looking at Sofie. "M-my seat. Where am I supposed to sit?" she asked. Ed turned back to Sofie, then again at Winry, smiling sheepishly.

"Uh, sorry Winry. You'll have to pull up another chair," he said. Winry huffed as she left to go get her work stool and drag it into that room. Almost hesitantly, she dragged it to the open spot on the other end of the table opposite Armstrong. After that they loaded their plates and began eating, some more enthusiastic than others (Ed).

Through the meal, Pinako was discreetly watching Sofie. She was so polite and sweet, but Pinako had a feeling there was something more to her than what she saw. However, she didn't think too much about it. She was just happy her practically-grandson had found another friend. Maybe now he wouldn't be so bent on doing research and would live a little more. He never got the true childhood experience, but Sofie seemed to be able to get him to loosen up.

When they were done with the meal it was pretty late, so they all decided to go to bed. Al and Ed were, of course, sharing a room, and Armstrong was in the only guest room. There were some issues of Sofie's sleeping place, and while she was perfectly fine sleeping on the couch, Pinako would not have it as she felt it would be bad for her, the host, to let her sleep on the couch. And despite the fact that she previously slept in the same room as the brothers, Pinako would also not allow that. The only other place left was Winry's room.

Sofie was situated on the floor, trying to make herself a warm nest of the several blankets provided for her, while Winry finished up getting ready. At first Winry had been wary of the sleeping arrangements, but she accepted it. "Goodnight," Winry said, turning off the lamp on her bedside table. There was a mumble from the pile of blankets that was Sofie, which Winry took as a 'goodnight' as well.

Winry woke up later in the night because she was having trouble sleeping. Not even thinking about the prospect of working on Ed's automail could make her fall asleep. She sat up in her bed and turned on the lamp, looking around in a semi-daze. She noticed the pile of blankets, with Sofie's head being the only thing visible, and couldn't help but think her to be really cute right then. She looked more like a little kid than a 15-year-old when she slept, Winry noticed. Figuring she was still half-asleep, she laid down on her back, looking out of the window next to her bed. After thinking about it, she realized she felt bad about how she'd acted earlier at dinner, because it wasn't Sofie's fault. She got the impression Sofie wasn't one to hold grudges, but even so she decided she'd apologize later.

Somehow all the thinking made her tired, and slowly she fell asleep.

~ next morning ~

Winry got up bright and early that morning, but Sofie was still asleep, cuddled into her mountain of blankets. She decided to leave her there, and went about her usual morning routine as quietly as possible. She snuck out of the room after changing and went downstairs to find her grandmother, as well as Ed and Al already there and eating breakfast. "Where's Sofie?" was the first thing Ed asked when he noticed she wasn't with Winry.

"She's still buried in her pile of blankets," she replied, pouring a glass of milk for herself. Ed shot her a disgusted look as he went back to reading the book in front of him. She had a quick breakfast, and then afterwards moved Ed to the living room so she could work on his automail. She'd detached it already and was working on replacing the bits that had been blasted to shreds. Ed was now on the couch, though he was still reading a book.

It was sometime later that Sofie began to wake up, and for a moment she panicked because she didn't recognize her surroundings. However, when she saw the picture of a younger Winry, Ed, and Al she remembered that she was, in the Rockbell's house. She yawned and stretched, or as much as she could with the constricting blankets on her, and then got up, taking one of them with her wrapped around like a cloak. She walked downstairs to find _almost_ everyone busy working on something. Ed reading a book could not be considered working, and neither could Al just sitting there. Pinako had taken Armstrong outside to get his help with something to do with chopping wood.

Winry was the first to notice Sofie's presence when she briefly looked up. "Oh Sofie, are you hungry? We might still have some sausage left over, do you want some?" she asked, not that she was trying to make up for anything last night. Sofie nodded and followed Winry into the kitchen, where she quickly got the food and set it down in front of Sofie.

"Thank you," Sofie said before digging in. Winry smiled a bit before returning to her workstation and picking up Ed's automail again. When Sofie finished she walked upstairs to get dressed in a normal t-shirt and shorts, and of course her usual hoodie. She walked downstairs, and no one paid her any attention when she walked straight outside. She'd seen a lake nearby when they arrived at the house and had wanted to check out, so she walked down to the edge. Unlike normal cats, Sofie was not afraid to get wet, and the sparkling water of the lake was practically inviting her to jump in, which was what she did with a squeal of delight.

Al, who was just kinda sitting around the house while waiting, happened to hear Sofie's squeal, though he didn't recognize it. But it did remind him of Sofie a bit. Curious, he looked around the house, even getting up to check the upstairs bedrooms, but he couldn't find her. "Hey guys," he said, walking back downstairs, "have you seen Sofie around?" Winry replied with a shrug, but Ed actually looked up from his book.

"No, why?" he asked, his voice slightly concerned.

"I haven't been able to find her anywhere in this house," Al said.

"Maybe she's playing hide-n-seek with you," Winry suggested, still working. Al looked thoughtful for a moment, but shook his head.

"I don't think so, but you could be right. I'm just gonna check outside to be sure," he said, walking out onto the deck. A quick scan of the land showed no sign of Sofie. Worried, he walked back inside. "Brother, I think she's gone missing again," he said. Ed looked up from his book to watch his younger brother. Seeing Al wouldn't let it go until they found her, he decided to be nice and help. Reluctantly he put his book down and walked outside.

"Alright, I'm here. Where do you suggest we look first?" Ed asked.

"Umm, we could check down by the lake first, since it's closest," Al suggested, and they started making their way down the slope to the lake. They stopped at the edge and peered out, but could only see a few ripples in the lake's surface. There was no Sofie.

"I guess she's not here," Ed said, turning to head back, when suddenly Al's hand stopped him.

"Brother, look!" he said, pointing out into the distance. There was a figure out there, splashing around and making a lot of noise. "It's Sofie!" he confirmed, shocking Ed, who rushed into the water, only to stop a few steps in since he couldn't go any farther.

"Sofie!" he shouted out, and she must've heard him because all of the splashing stopped. Sofie turned to them, and after waving started swimming over. "What are you doing out here, Sofie?" Ed asked incredulously.

"I was just playing. The water is so nice, I had to come out and try it," she said, smiling.

"But what about all that splashing? We thought you were drowning or something," Ed asked, a tinge of worry in his voice. Sofie scoffed.

"Nope, wasn't drowning. I can swim perfectly fine, thank you very much," she replied. "And I was doing something with my arm, where you spin around in the water with your arm just on the surface. It creates these really cool waves. That's what I was doing," she clarified, and then demonstrated, splashing water on Ed and Al in the process.

"Ack! Now I'm all wet," Ed complained, while Sofie grinned.

"Then come join me; it's a lot of fun," she said enticingly. Ed shook his head.

"Sorry, but my automail won't allow me to swim. That, and I'm missing an arm, so I'd get nowhere," he said, though not too sadly. Sofie frowned.

"Well then you can just splash around in this shallow area and be the helpless victim," she said.

"No way! Why should I be the helpless victim?" he asked, but then answered his own question. "So you can save me?" he supplied sarcastically. Sofie looked at him with an incredulous expression.

"No," she denied, to his confusion. "So I can have someone to attack because I'm a shark!" she said with a grin, jumping out of the water with a 'rawr.' Ed stumbled backwards in his surprise and landed on his rear in the water.

"Hey!" he said, surprised. His eyes narrowed, and before Sofie could dodge he splashed a bunch of water on Sofie, though it didn't do much because she was already soaked. Sofie was surprised from his retaliation, but not for long. She gained an evilish grin on her face before splashing him back.

"The war has begun! Sharks vs. helpless people!" she said, running back into the water.

"Oh no you don't! Get back here!" Ed shouted, running out as far as he dared. "And I'm not a helpless person!" he shouted before turning back to Al, who was standing on the shore. "Al, go back and get as many water balloons as possible," he ordered, like a military general would order his troops.

"I don't think we have any," Al replied. Ed gave him an exasperated look.

"Are you an alchemist or not?" Ed asked, to which Al nodded. "Then you should be able to transmute some," he said. Al looked a bit sheepish as he ran back to the house to get what Ed asked for. Ed turned around to face the lake, watching the surface for any movements that would tell him where Sofie was hiding. Al returned not long after, and the war really began.

~ later ~

Ed, Sofie, and even Al, walked into the Rockbell house around dusk completely soaked. It was hard to tell who had really won the war, but Sofie adamantly claimed she did, since helpless people would never be able to beat sharks, alchemy or not. Ed defiantly argued that he and Al had won with their superior weaponry. However, when Pinako saw them, all disputes stopped.

"What in the world happened to you two?" she asked. Ed immediately pointed to Sofie.

"It was her fault; she started it," he claimed, much to Sofie's surprise. She then furiously denied it, shaking her head quickly with a 'nuh uh.' Pinako sighed.

"I really don't care who started it, but you're both going to get colds if you don't get warmed up soon," she said, handing them towels. "Why don't we get you both some warm milk to heat you up? I've heard it does wonders for preventing colds," she said, leading them into the kitchen. Ed made a face when she mentioned milk and tried to escape, but she told him to sit and gave him a look that promised trouble if he disobeyed. They sat there patiently until Pinako brought them their milk, and with one last look at Ed she walked out of the room. Sofie happily drank her milk, not noticing the weird look Ed was giving her. When she looked over at him, she was surprised to see he hadn't touched his milk at all, and was instead having a stare-down with it.

"Are you going to drink that? 'Cause if you're not, can I have it?" she asked him. He looked at her incredulously, but then gestured for her to take it. She did happily and chugged the entire contents under Ed's creeped out gaze.

"How can you drink that?" he asked once she'd placed the cup down, finished.

"I'm a cat," was her simple reply. "Cat's love milk." He nodded, as if that explained everything. Just then Pinako walked back into the kitchen to check on Ed, and she was surprised to see both of the empty glasses.

"You drank your milk?" she asked, surprised. She picked it up and turned it over, just to make sure it wasn't an illusion. Ed nodded, a large grin on his face, while Sofie hid her smile behind her hand as she tried not to giggle. Pinako's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the two, but she didn't question it, instead gesturing for them to leave. Once they had left the kitchen they both burst out laughing, much to the surprise of Al and Winry.

"What's so funny?" Winry asked suspiciously, but Ed shook his head, still laughing.

"Milk," he said, as if that explained everything. Winry shot him a weird look but went back to her work.

"Alrighty guys, I'm tired. See you tomorrow," Sofie said as she made her way upstairs. After changing into her pajamas she made herself comfortable again in her pile of pillows and quickly fell asleep, not noticing when Winry came in later to go to sleep.

~ 2 days later ~

It was their third day in Resembool and Winry was finally finished with Ed's automail. They'd all gotten up early that morning to reattach it, and as soon as they were finished they prepared to leave. It was Armstrong who finally noticed that Sofie was not with them. "I hope she hasn't gone back outside again," Ed said with a sigh.

"Why don't we check her room first?" Al suggested, and Winry went to do that. She headed upstairs to her bedroom, where she found Sofie still asleep. She walked over to her and nudged her head softly.

"Hey, Sofie, you have to get up. They're going to leave in a little bit," she said, nudging her head. Sofie, who had been facing away from Winry, turned around and nudged her hand, as if asking to be rubbed some more. Winry took it as Sofie pushing her away and started to nudge her head some more. Soon Sofie started purring, much to Winry's surprise, who then poked her face. Sofie's nose and ears twitched at the contact but she didn't wake up.

Winry screamed when she noticed the ears on the side of her head moving.

Everyone from downstairs rushed upstairs, all at the same time, but only Ed was able to enter the room. Al stood at the door, trying to block entry and sight into the room to protect Sofie's secret. Ed stopped just a few steps into the room, observing Winry and Sofie. Winry was sitting beside where Sofie's bed was, her eyes wide as she stared at Sofie, who was on the opposite side and looking everywhere but Winry and those at the door.

"What happened to you?" Winry asked, watching her tail twitch about. Sofie didn't answer immediately, debating on what to say. It was already obvious what had happened, but she didn't want to say it out loud.

"An experiment gone wrong," she said. There was a slight tremor to her voice that she tried to hide, unsuccessfully. Her face was turned away from them so they couldn't see exactly, but it sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "You think I'm a freak, don't you?" she said, hugging herself, as if bracing for Winry's answer.

"No, no that's not true," Winry said, over the shock of seeing Sofie's ears and tail. The more she thought about it, she realized it wasn't Sofie's fault. She then felt immediately sorry about whatever she'd thought about Sofie before. The promise she'd made on that first night to apologize to Sofie resurface, and without thinking she found herself moving towards Sofie to give her a hug. At first Sofie shied away, but when Winry didn't back away she gradually relaxed. "I don't think you're a freak. So you're just different than everyone else, but that doesn't make you a freak. You're just special," she said, trying to soothe Sofie. Sofie looked up at Winry with tears in her eyes.

"Do you really mean that?" she asked with a small voice. Winry gave Sofie a small smile and nodded, earning a hesitant smile from Sofie.

"Well, now that you two are friends, can we go now?" Ed said, startling the two girls in the room. They hadn't really noticed those at the door, and him suddenly speaking surprised them. They shared a look afterwards, and then immediately burst into laughter. "What?" Ed asked, confused. Winry shook her head.

"Nothing; girl stuff. Just go so she can change," she ordered, shooing him and all the others away and then closing the door. Ed was surprised to be pushed out so suddenly, and so he waited outside the door with a slight frown on his face. Several moments and giggles later, Sofie and Winry emerged with smiles on their faces. Especially Sofie. He didn't question it, though, as they were finally able to leave. Heading to the train station, Sofie walked in the back with Winry, who was quietly talking to her about something. Ed had a feeling in the back of his mind that it was about him.

Both Winry and Pinako stayed until the train left, Winry surprising them all when she gave Sofie a hug goodbye. "Be sure to visit again sometime soon, and bring Sofie with you!" she said as the train pulled away. Sofie waved goodbye while leaning out of the window, then sitting back in her seat.

"So what were you and Winry talking about earlier?" Ed asked, his curiosity getting the better of him, and with nothing else to do on the train, he decided to pester Sofie. However, Sofie was not going to give up that information as easily.

"Sorry, but I'm not telling," she said with a grin.

"What, is it some secret girly thing?" he asked sarcastically, though was surprised to see Sofie nod. He sat back in his seat with a huff, dejected. Armstrong, deciding they needed some more entertainment for the train ride, remembered his previous challenge to the younger Elric, who had yet to take him up on it.

"Alphonse, what do you say we try this again, starting all over?" he asked, holding his arm out in a challenge.

* * *

**Okay, so this chapter was slightly more humorous (they are on vacation, after all), and I think I'm happy with the way it turned out. I actually came up with a bunch of the last parts last night while I was getting ready to go to sleep. Anyway, I hope y'all thought it was funny. It was somewhat of a filler chapter, but I think it helped with the relationship between Winry and Sofie (they're BFF-ish now). And I'm just gonna say it now, but what Winry and Sofie were talking about was not Ed. **

**Alright, I've kinda sorta figured out where I want to head with this story, at least for now. I know I skipped their stop at Marcoh's town, instead going straight to the Rockbells', so they'll be visiting him on the way back, and that'll be when they change their plans to go to Central. From then on I plan to follow the storyline fairly closely, with several minor changes. **

**Oh well, review and tell me what you thought about the chapter. Did I do okay with Sofie and Winry? Please let me know so I can improve. **


	7. Omake I

**Okay, this is just a fair warning, but this isn't a real chapter. The real chapter…has yet to be written. I re-watched the FMA series, and I realized the timeline in my story is seriously messed up. I've said Ed & Al are 16 & 15, yet when they met Tucker (in the series) they were 12 & 11, and Ed was getting ready to take the exam to become an alchemist. I then realized that I'd have to rethink things a little, and I haven't been able to come up with a way to continue, yet. I need a little more time to sort things out, so instead of not posting anything this Monday I decided to go with a little omake of sorts, featuring the trio. We can just say this occurs sometime while they're in Central.**

* * *

"Sofie, get up," Al pleaded, trying to wake up the sleeping feline on the couch once again. "You know you can't sleep this late. Ed has to go to Central HQ this morning, and then we're going to the library again. Please get up now." Sofie, annoyed at being woken up at 6 in the morning, was feeling particularly defiant this morning, and instead of getting up she rolled over to face away from Al, pulling up her covers to hide her face from the harsh light. Al sighed and sat down beside the couch, out of ideas on how to get her up. He'd already tried talking to her, pleading with her, begging her, and even shouting at her, yet she still refused to get up.

Ed walked out of the bathroom to find Al moping in defeat and Sofie still asleep. He sighed; Al was too nice, especially when he was trying to get Sofie up. That cat would sleep all day if she was allowed. Ed decided to take matters into his own hands. He walked over to behind the couch, and with a sharp kick sent it couch turning over, unceremoniously dumping Sofie onto the floor.

"Brother!" Al scolded, quickly returning the couch to its original position. "You shouldn't do that; it's mean," he said, moving to help Sofie get up.

"Yeah, you shouldn't treat a lady like that. I could have gotten hurt," Sofie said, giving Ed a harsh glare. She started picking up all of her blankets that had fallen on the ground, folding and placing them on the couch.

"That's right. Brother, you need to apologize to Sofie right now," Al demanded. Of course he would take Sofie's side in the matter, and he wouldn't drop it until Ed did as he was told. Neither would Sofie, meaning Ed was in for a very bad day.

"Fine, Sofie I'm sorry for kicking the couch and dumping you on the floor," he apologized with a sigh. Sofie appeared to ponder the apology for a moment.

"Well I don't forgive you," she said, shocking Ed and Al.

"W-what?! Why not?" Ed sputtered, utterly confused. Sofie shrugged.

"I'm tired of the way you treat me in the morning, and a verbal apology just doesn't cut it. No, if you want me to forgive you, it'll take more than that," she said, sitting down on the couch and turning away from Ed, giving him the cold shoulder.

"Like what?" he asked nervously. Not that it mattered to him, but he didn't like it when Sofie was annoyed with him. She ignored him for a majority of the day, only speaking to him when absolutely necessary, and she would mostly hang out with Al. He was _not_ jealous, of course, just a little left out, and normally he would cave and apologize, thus being accepted back into their little circle. But never before had Sofie ever made him actually do something to regain her favor.

Sofie appeared to think a bit, and then suddenly grinned. Ed had a bad feeling. "Well, you could be my…slave for the day," she suggested. Before Ed could say anything, she continued. "It would totally make up for being mean to me this morning, and all those other mornings. Besides, it's only one day, it could be worse." Ed looked at her incredulously, but he couldn't find any hint of a joke. She was completely serious. With a sigh, his shoulders slumped in resignation and his fate was sealed. Sofie squealed with delight and jumped up to go get dressed.

"Okay, Ed, first thing: go to Central HQ and do whatever you had to do, and on your way home go and pick up some stuff for me. Then return home as quickly as possible, got it," she said, stopping to hand him a pre-made list. "Now shoo," she said, almost pushing him out of the apartment and roughly shutting the door behind him. Sofie rushed back to the bathroom to change, and when she returned she was wearing a cute, little white sundress and looked extremely happy.

"Um, Sofie, what are you going to do to Ed?" Al asked hesitantly while Sofie admired her appearance in the mirror. She shrugged.

"Nothing much. He's just going to have to be nice and pamper me all day because he's been such a bully to me," she said, walking back to the couch to recline until Ed returned. Al followed her, sitting down next to her.

"What about me?" he asked.

"You can help if you want, or you can just do whatever. See, you're nice to me, much nicer than Ed, so you don't need to be punished," Sofie said. Al let out a sigh of relief, grateful for his nice personality. Even if Sofie did something really bad, he wasn't sure he'd really be able to be mad at her 'cuz she is just so adorable! Al was now lost in his musings, and Sofie decided to take another nap since Ed had been so rude waking her up so early in the morning.

~ Ed ~

He hurried to Central HQ because he knew Sofie's mood would worsen the longer he took, and he didn't want to imagine what Sofie could think up when she was angry. It was bad enough he had to do whatever she said today, but he really did not feel like being a slave for the rest of his life. He practically jogged to Mustang's office; if he hurried, he also wouldn't have to talk to the Colonel for as long either. The only reason he had to visit him anyways was because he had to turn in a rewritten report because the first time Sofie had accidentally spilt her milk all over it. So technically she was to blame for him being in a bad mood this morning because he had to go in.

He arrived in a record amount of time, only to find Mustang was away in an important meeting, and probably wouldn't return for a while. "Why do you need to see him?" Hawkeye asked.

"I need to give him my report, but I can't wait that long!" Ed exclaimed. He was pacing around the office because he couldn't sit still. He wanted to just leave and give the report later, but it was late enough as is and Mustang would surely punish him with some odd mission to the middle of nowhere.

"Why don't you just give it to me, and I'll make sure he gets it," Hawkeye offered, noticing the behavior of the agitated teen. Ed was eternally grateful to her, and after handing her the report practically ran out of the office. However, he turned back and sheepishly walked back in.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find some of this stuff, would you?" he asked, showing Hawkeye the list Sofie had given him. She took it, and out of curiosity the rest of the group wandered over to check it out as well.

"Oh, you can get the catnip and biscuits at this small pet shop I know of downtown," Fury offered. "I have no idea where you can find the nail polish or cupcakes, though."

"There's a bakery a few streets away that sells cupcakes," Hawkeye said, and then she began searching through her desk. "And I think I have an unused bottle of nail polish you can have. I don't wear this kinda stuff." After shuffling some items around she came up with a bottle of a light pink polish, which Ed took gratefully. Saves him some time wandering around, and the embarrassment of having to go into a girly store.

"What are you shopping for: a cat or a girl?" Havoc asked, confused by the list.

"A girl; I'm her slave for the day," Ed said sadly. Havoc laughed and clapped him on the back.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. Just do what she asks and be nice to her all day. She'll forgive you eventually," he advised. "But what I really want to know is what you did to get yourself in the doghouse like this."

"I pushed over the couch she was sleeping on," Ed said, looking away from them guiltily.

"Edward! That is no way to treat a lady," Hawkeye reprimanded.

"Yeah, I know. Both she and Al said the same thing, and now I'm paying for it."

"Well good; you deserve it. Now go before you keep her any longer," Hawkeye said, pushing him out of the office. With a sigh Ed headed out to where Fury had said he could find the cat supplies. It didn't take him long to find it, and luckily it had plenty of what Sofie wanted. He bought a lot of catnip, just in case they ran out. The biscuits weren't that hard to find either at a bakery, which also happened to sell some cupcakes. He got some plain cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles, figuring Sofie would be okay with that.

Afterwards he hurriedly walked back home to Sofie and Al, desperately hoping Sofie wasn't mad at him. He rushed inside the apartment, startling Al and waking up Sofie. "I'm back," he announced, placing the items on the table. Sofie happily started digging through and pulling them out.

"That was quicker than I imagined. I didn't expect you back for another hour or so," she said. Ed let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, where's the nail polish?" she asked, turning over the various bags, but she couldn't find it. Ed rummaged around his pockets, finally pulling it out and handing it to Sofie. "Oooh, I like this color," she exclaimed. Ed kinda just stood there, unsure of what she wanted to do now, and too nervous to ask her.

"Now what?" Al asked, thankfully. Sofie looked at him with a grin.

"Spa day!" she exclaimed happily. "You have to do my nails, and my hair, and then later we can go out for some shopping," Sofie said happily. Finally she would be getting the treatment she deserved. Sure, Al was nice to her, but a girl needs to be pampered every once in a while.

"That sounds like fun," Al said, and Ed looked at him like he'd been betrayed. "I want to help too."

"Okay, you can do my nails, and Ed can do my hair," she ordered, settling down on the couch. "I want a French braid," she told Ed.

"What makes you think I can do that?" he asked. Sofie turned around and gave him a look, gesturing to his own braid. Ed scowled but did as she asked.

"You know, this is just like when we played with Winry," Al said, painting the first of Sofie's nails. Ed scoffed. He was standing behind the couch, brushing Sofie's hair out.

"And if you'll remember, I never liked that either," Ed said, separating Sofie's hair. "I don't get how girls like this. What's the point if it'll just get messed up later?" Sofie sighed.

"Ed, you don't need to understand. You just need to keep braiding," Sofie ordered. "Besides, it's fun. We get to feel pretty, and special, which is why we do it." Ed rolled his eyes, not that Sofie could see him.

Several minutes later, Al had finished painting Sofie's nails and Ed had finished his surprisingly well-done French braid. "Now we can go shopping, and maybe later we can have a picnic. Wouldn't that be fun?" she exclaimed. Al nodded happily, while Ed groaned. "C'mon, I saw this cute dress I want to get," she said, walking out the door with Al following and Ed taking up the rear. Sofie led them to her favorite store, the one with the dress she saw, and she made Ed buy it for her, along with several other dresses she liked. Then she led them around town for another few hours, buying other things she liked with Ed's money and making him carry it all.

"Sofie, can we stop already. I'm starving," Ed complained, dragging behind the rest of the group. Well, he was laden with a bunch of bags. Al wasn't holding anything else other than the lunches they'd bought. Sofie, realizing she was also hungry, decided it would be a good time to eat.

"Sure, let's go to the park. That would be like a real picnic," she said happily. They made their way over to the park, the same one they had went to when Sofie had first arrived in Central. Sofie skipped ahead of them, choosing a spot under a large tree, probably the same one as last time. Al began setting everything up, laying out all the food for Ed and Sofie. The cupcakes Ed had bought earlier were also included. Thankfully Sofie had no complaints with rainbow sprinkles.

It was actually turning out to be a nice picnic, and even though he wouldn't admit it, Ed was enjoying it a little. However, when Mustang and Hawkeye showed up Ed's mood took a turn for the worse. "What are you doing here? I'm trying to enjoy my day," he said, watching with a scowl as Mustang sat down between Ed and Sofie.

"Well, I heard from the guys in the office you have to be a slave for a girl and I thought, I just have to check this out," he explained.

"So you spent all day looking for me so you could gloat," he asked. Mustang nodded.

"That and to get out of paperwork," he amended. "So how's the slave been doing today?" he asked, addressing Sofie. She shrugged.

"He's fine," she said.

"What!? 'I'm fine.' I should be getting a gold star or something like that. How many guys do you know that can braid hair, or put up with four hours of shopping?" he complained.

"Wait, you braided her hair?" Mustang interrupted, chuckling. Sofie nodded.

"Yep, and Al did my nails," she said, showing him her hands. This time Mustang burst out laughing.

"You guys are finny. I should tell everyone at the office about this," he said. Ed was mortified.

"No! You can't do that! Besides, I was ordered to; I had no choice," he said. Mustang pretended to think about it. Ed was mentally pleading with Mustang not to tell anyone, and thankfully his pleas were answered.

"Okay, I won't tell...if you let me take a picture so I can show them," he bargained. Ed was about to say no, but Sofie agreed and he had absolutely no choice. Then, from out of nowhere, Mustang pulled out a camera and told them to smile. A flash later and Mustang was walking away, having accomplished what he'd set out to do.

"Finally he's gone," Ed said thankfully, picking up a cupcake.

"So, Sofie, what do you have planned after this?" Al wondered, turning to Sofie. She shrugged.

"I don't know. I just really wanted to have a picnic today," she said. "You guys are always so busy with your researching and stuff. I just wanted to have a fun day," she admitted, leaning back to lie down and watch the sky. "And today has been great." With a clank Al was also watching the sky.

"I agree with you; we definitely needed the break. What do you say, brother?" he asked, looking at Ed. Ed finished his cupcake and looked up at the sky before looking at Sofie and Al. The trace of a smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, today's been fun," he admitted.

* * *

**So that's done. I apologize for not really updating, so instead of just not posting anything I did this. My next update will definitely be a real chapter, I'm just not sure when that update will occur. It most likely won't be next Monday. My schedule is about to get a lot busier this month with all the tournaments I have every weekend and practices almost every day of the week. This is just a fair warning, but I wouldn't expect much this month. However, when I do update it'll be just as long as usual, maybe even longer 'cuz I feel really bad right now. Sorry :(**


End file.
